^ 


I 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


TWELYE  YEARS 


AMONG 


THE  COLORED  PEOPLE. 


A  RECORD  OF  THE  WORK  OF  MOUNT  CALVARY 

CHAPEL  OF  S.  MARY  THE  VIRGIN, 

BALTIMORE. 


BY 

CALBEAITH  B.  PERRY, 

Priest  in  Charge. 


NEW  YORK  : 

JAMES   POTT   &   CO., 

12  AsTOR  Place. 

1884. 


Copyright,  1884. 
By  ,IAMES  pott  &  CO. 


6X 

PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  were  begun  during  a  few 
weeks  of  enforced  rest  from  active  labor,  in  response 
to  repeated  requests  from  friends,  benefactors  and 
fellow- workers  for  information  respecting  the 
methods  adopted  in  carying  on  the  work  of  St. 
Mary's  Chapel.  It  was  hoped  that  by  a  brief 
history  of  the  work  the  information  could  be  more 
satisfactorily  given  than  was  possible  by  private 
correspondence.  To  the  fulfillment  of  this  pur- 
pose it  was  sought  to  add  such  details  as  would 
make  a  permanent  record  prized  by  the  colored 
people  who  have  been  associated  with  the  parish. 
In  carrying  out  this  very  restricted  and  simple 
purpose,  the  review  of  difficulties  of  the  past,  the 
singular  perplexities  of  the  present,  and  the  great 
uncertainty  of  the  whole  problem  of  the  future  of 
the  colored  people,  have  tempted  the  writer  to 
extend  the  plan,  and  to  offer  some  suggestions, 
and  to  draw  some  inferences  from  a  somewhat  ex- 
ceptional experience,  which  he  trusts  will  not  be 
wholly  unacceptable  nor  unprofitable  to  such  read- 
ers as  may  be  induced  by  their  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject to  consider  them. 

In  performing  the  task,  it  was  impossible  not  to 
foresee  that  in  the  endeavor  to  tell  the  whole  truth 


869892 


4  JJrefoce. 

and  to  express  his  opinions  with  entire  candor,  he 
would  hardly  escape  wounding  the  feelings  and 
perhaps  call  forth  some  earnest,  if  not  bitter,  dissent 
alike  from  the  people  of  the  North,  of  the  South, 
and  from  the  colored  people  themselves.  But  he 
felt  no  less  convinced  that  it  was  only  by  telling 
the  truth  and  the  whole  truth  that  he  could 
contribute  testimony  of  any  value  in  the  solution 
of  a  problem  of  great  difficulties  doubtless,  but  of 
still  greater  importance.  He  has  long  since  learned 
that  he  can  rely  upon  the  indulgence  of  his  friends 
for  all  errors  of  judgment,  many  of  which  will 
doubtless  be  detected  in  these  pages.  A  more 
general  public  he  does  not  venture  to  hope  to 
reach.  For  defects  of  any  other  character  his 
only  apology  must  be  that  he  makes  no  pretension 
to  a  right  to  enroll  himself  on  the  too-crowded  list 
of  authors,  other  than  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  things  of  which  he  writes. 

The  Authoe. 
Mount  Calvary  Clergy  House, 
Nov.  1st,  1884. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGE 

[ntroductory 7 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Writer's  first  Introduction  to  the  Colored 
People,  with    some   reflection's   resulting 

FROM  further  ACQUAINTANCE 21 

CHAPTER  III. 
8.  Mary's  Chapel  and  its  Services 60 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Schools  and  the  Cause  of  Christian  Edu- 
cation    85 

CHAPTER  V. 
S.  Mary's  Home 125 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Our  Faithful  Departed 141 

Conclusion  .  165 


TWELVE  YEARS  AMONG  THE 
COLORED  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER   I. 

INTKODUCTOKY. 

The  work  among  the  colored  people  at  Mount 
Calvary  Chapel  of  S.  Mary  the  Virgin,  began  in 
the  year  1873.  Some  reference  to  the  events  of 
the  three  years  preceding  is  necessary  in  order  to 
explain  the  writer's  connection  with  it.  The  cloud 
under  which  he  began  his  work  will  account  for 
obstacles  and  annoyances  which  will  appear  later 
in  the  record.  These  it  is  important  to  recognize 
and  to  distinguish  from  difficulties  necessarily 
connected  with  labors  among  the  colored  people. 
They  will  also  serve  to  show  that  no  political  or 
sectional  motive  led  him  to  labor  among  them. 
The  fierce  and  protracted  struggle  through  which 
he  entered  the  ministry  may  also  furnish  a  sort  of 
ajjologia  pro  vita  sua,  and  account  for  what  may  have 
been  in  his  earlier  years  an  unnecessary  aggressive- 
ness and  harshness  in  pressing  principles  which 
he  holds  no  whit  less  firmly  to-day  but,  he  trusts, 
with  more  gentleness  and  a  wider  charity  to  those 
who  differ  from  him. 

7 


8  Qlxaclve  ^eors  ^mong  the  (toloreb  |)eople. 

Unable  to  obtain  Priest's  Orders  in  the  diocese 
where  he  had  begun  his  labors,*  at  the  invitation  of 
Bishop  Whittingham  and  Vestry  of  Mount  Calvary 


*  In  justice  to  himself  the  writer  adds  an  explanation  of 
the  cause  of  his  ordination  being  postponed  in  Rhode  Island. 
He  had  been  censured  for  certain  expressions  in. a  sermon 
upon  the  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  The  sermon  was 
presented  as  a  mere  seminary  exercise.  The  statements, 
though  perhaps  unguarded  and  crude,  and  characteristic 
of  an  undergraduate,  were  pronounced  by  eminent  and 
strictly  conservative  divines  to  be  defensible.  But  in  addi- 
tion to  this  alleged  offense  he  was  soon  after  with  a  number 
of  his  classmates  in  "  Retreat "  making  preparation  for  his 
approaching  ordination.  Retreats  (seasons  of  united  prayer 
and  meditation),  now  quite  familiar  to  tlie  Church  and 
countenanced  by  many  of  our  bishops,  were  then  ranked 
among  the  "novelties  that  disturbed  our  peace."  The 
then  Doan  of  the  Seminary,  who,  as  Dr.  Mahan  cleverly 
expressed  it,  had  changed  his  ecclesiastical  coat  so  fre- 
quently as  to  be  suspicious  of  the  loyalty  of  others,  sent  a 
sensational  telegram  to  several  of  the  bishops  in  regard  to 
their  candidates.  In  dioceses  such  as  Albany  and  New 
York  little  effect  was  produced  ;  but  in  Rhode  Island,  a 
"  Retreat  "  was  regarded  with  horror  proportionate  to  the 
ignorance  of  its  nature.  The  rector  of  the  old  parish 
church  by  which  the  writer  had  been  recommended  to 
the  Standing  Committee,  refused  his  signature  to  the 
required  testimonials,  and  the  majority  of  the  Vestry  re- 
quested the  withdrawal  of  their  signatures  which  had 
been  already  given.  Several,  however,  refused  to  join  in 
the  narrow  policy,  and  remained  his  steadfast  friends. 

But  for  the  ever-liberal  and  kind-hearted  character  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  persistent  mediation 
of  Prof.  Seymour  (now  Bishop  of  Springfield),  who  had 
come  to  Rhode  Island  to  present  the  candidates  for  ordina- 


Jtitrobuctoni. 


Church  he  became  Associate  Rector  of  that  church. 
Having  received  warning  from  Rhode  Island 
against  so  dangerous  a  refugee,  and  already  sus- 
picious and  irritated  bj  the  perversion  of  the  late 
Rector  of  Mount  Calvary  to  the  Church  of  Rome, 
the  Standing  Committee  of  Maryland  made  a 
condition  of  the  writers  receiving  ordination  that 
he  should  pass  an  examination  before  the  Bishop 
in  the  presence  of  a  special  and  extra-canonical 
commission  of  clergy. 

It  was  a  formidable  ordeal  for  a  young  deacon. 
He  well  remembers  the  impressive  form  of  the  ven- 
erable Bishop  of  Maryland,  surrounded  by  seven 
prominent  clergy  of  his  diocese,  and  the  fiery,  yet 
kindly  glance  of  the  eye  beaming  with  the  encour- 
agement which  he  so  frequently  gathered  from  the 
same  look  in  after  years.  Nor  can  he  forget  the 
five  weary  hours  of  inquisition.  Its  history  does 
not  properly  belong  to  these  pages.     Before  taking 

tion,  his  ordination  to  the  diaconate  would  probably  not 
have  been  obtained  at  that  time.  At  the  expiration  of  a  year, 
his  ordination  to  the  priesthood  seemed  hopelessly  post- 
poned. The  Associate  Mission  in  Providence,  of  which  the 
present  Rector  of  Mount  Calvary  was  the  head,  was 
disbanded,  Mr.  Coggeshall  (the  late  Father  Coggeshall, 
S.S.J.E.),  removed  to  the  more  liberal  Diocese  of  New 
Jersey,  and  the  writer,  although  much  attached  to  his  little 
flock  at  S.  Gabriel's,  and  to  a  bishop  in  whose  family  he 
had  enjoyed  a  son's  privilege  and  intercourse,  at  length 
yielded  to  the  persuasions  of  his  old  friend  Mr.  Ricliey  to 
accept  the  Associate  Rectorship  of  Mount  Calvary  Church, 
Baltimore,  where  the  hearty  welcome  of  Bishop  Whitting- 
ham  had  been  assured  him. 


10  dLtoeltJC  ^cax5  Qlmong  tlje  Coloreb  JJeople. 

leave  of  that  group  of  doctors  of  divinity,  how- 
ever,— some  of  them  since,  become  dear  friends  of 
the  writer,  and  none,  he  trusts,  his  enemies — it 
may  not  be  uninteresting  to  describe  the  closing 
scene.  After  hours  of  ferreting  for  hidden  heresies, 
the  crucial  point  of  Sacramental  Confession  was 
reached.  The  deacon  was  asked  if  he  felt  at  lib- 
erty to  use  any  form  of  private  absolution,  and  if 
so,  what  form.  He  replied  that  while  feeling  him- 
self at  liberty  in  private  ministration  to  use  any 
form  connected  with  the  teachings  of  our  Church, 
he  should  use  that  in  the  English  Prayer  Book. 
Upon  the  expression  of  disapprobation  of  several 
of  the  clergy,  the  bishop,  bending  forward,  asked 
in  his  eager  way:  ''Do  you  remember,  Perry,  any- 
thing in  the  preface  of  our  Prayer  Book  that 
proves  your  right  to  do  so?"  In  reply  the  Avords 
were  given  :  "This  Church  is  far  from  intending 
to  depart  from  the  Church  of  England  in  any  es- 
sential point  of  doctrine,  discipline  or  worship." 
"Right!"  exclaimed  the  bishop,  falling  back  in 
evident  satisfaction.  Dr.  Dalrymple,  whose  jovial 
face,  beaming  with  suppressed  merriment,  is  not 
chiefly  associated  with  the  work  of  an  inquisitor, 
then  asked  : 

"  Does  it  seem  of  no  significance  that  that  form 
was  omitted  from  our  Prayer  Book  ?  "  Without 
leaving  time  for  reply,  the  bishop  interrupted  with 
vehemence:  "Dr.  Dalrymple,  by  the  principle 
your  question  implies,  you  would  make  of  our 
Church  nothing  but  a  miserable  Protestant  sect." 


Jtntrobuctorn,  11 


He  then  related  how,  when  a  Unitarian  minister 
called  on  him  to  ask  the  terms  upon  which  he 
conld  enter  the  Church's  ministry,  he  took  from 
his  shelves  an  English  Prayer  Book  and  read  him 
the  Athanasian  Creed.  This  did  not  convince  the 
doctor.  He  pressed  the  deacon  further  till  the 
bishop  again  came  to  the  rescue,  while  the  ex- 
hausted deacon  sank  back  glad  of  a  respite.  "  Di-. 
Dalrymple,  let  me  tell  you  what  happened  in  the 
earlier  years  of  my  ministry.  A  man  came  to  me 
bowed  down  with  the  weight  of  a  great  sin.  I 
used  those  '  Comfortable  Words '  that  you  have 
recommended  to  Mr.  Perry  to  use  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, but  these  and  similar  promises  did 
not  comfort  him.  Then  I  said,  Kneel  down,  and  as 
in  the  presence  of  God,  acknowledge  your  sin.  He 
did  so,  and  I  stood  up  and  repeated  over  him  those 
words  that  you  have  condemned  in  this  young 
man.  Now,  Dr.  Dalrymple,  did  I  do  right,  or 
did  I  do  wrong  ?  "  The  doctor  replied  that  he 
was  not  sitting  in  judgment  upon  his  bishop.  The 
bishop  insisted  on  an  answer.  Dr.  D.  said  with 
some  spirit,  "Bishop,  you  invited  me  to  assist  in 
examining  this  young  man — you  have  turned  the 
occasion  into  one  of  examining  me  !  "  Still  the 
bishop  insisted  ;  by  this  time  those  who  knew  him 
will  fancy  the  color  of  the  good  doctor's  face  and 
bald  head.  He  seized  the  generous  brimmed  hat 
from  the  floor,  and  while  he  rapidly  pol  ished  with  the 
silk  handkerchief  which  he  drew  from  it,  his  head, 
whicli  now  glowed  like  an  inverted  caldron  heated 


13  ®u)elt)e  ^cax5  !^ttiong  tl)e  (fToloreir  |)eoplc. 

ill  the  furnace,  he  said  as  he  half  rose,  "  Bishoj),  if 
you  insist  ui)on  my  answering,  I  shall  leave  the 
house."  ''Just  as  you  please,"  said  the  undaunt- 
ed bishop  ;  "  but  I  wish  an  answer  before  you  go." 
This  was  too  mucii,  and  the  doctor  blurted  out, 
"  Well,  bishop,  if  you  insist,  I  think  you  did 
wrong."  A  scathing  rejoinder  followed  on  the  part 
of  the  bishop,  whicli  cannot  be  recalled,  but  it  was 
the  final  single  combat  of  the  battle,  and  soon 
after,  when  the  deacon  had  retired  for  half  an 
hour  and  had  been  readmitted,  it  was  announced  to 
him  that  the  majority  of  the  clergy  had  expressed 
an  opinion  in  favor  of  Ordination.  It  is  but  jus- 
tice to  add  that,  before  leaving  the  house,  Dr.  Dal- 
rymple  approached  the  writer  and  said :  "  My 
young  brother,  I  do  not  think  you  ought  to  be  in 
the -ministry  and  I  have  done  all  I  conld  to  keep 
you  out.  But  my  brethren  here  think  differently. 
I  have  discharged  my  duty.  Now  give  me  your 
hand,  and  promise  me  that  since  you  are  to  be  or- 
dained we  shall  be  good  friends."  The  dear,  honest 
old  man  faithfully  kept  the  agreement,  and  many 
a  pleasant  invitation  was  afterward  given,  and, 
when  possible,  accepted,  while  he  was  one  of  the 
most  generous  and  ready  contributors  to  the  work 
at  S.  Mary's.  Would  that  all  the  brethren  liad 
taken  the  same  generous,  genial  course  ! 

The  bishop,  having  announced  the  decision  of 
the  clergy,  rose,  and,  with  an  earnest,  searching 
look  in  his  eagle  eyes,  said  :  "And  now  I  shall  have 
to  ask  you  the  same  question  I  require  to  be  an- 


Sntrobnctorj}.  13 

swered  by  all  whom  I  ordain  :  Do  you  accept  the 
XXXIX  Articles  in  their  plain,  grammatical,  but'* 
— and,  pausing,  he  threw  out,  in  his  emphatic  way, 
his  long  index  finger — ''their  historical  sense?" 
On  receiving  a  ready  assent,  he  brought  his  hands 
together,  exclaiming,  "Thank  God,  thank  God  !" 

The  intimate  intercourse  with  the  Episcopal 
household,  which  was  a  privilege  fi'om  that  day  ; 
the  tender,  fatherly  counsel,  the  sympathy  in 
trouble,  the  frequent  guidance  in  many  little  de- 
tails of  parish  work,  would  appear  improbable  to 
those  who  only  have  heard  the  Mount  Calvary 
clergy  described  as  arrayed  against  the  bishop. 
These  relations  will  be  understood  better  by  those 
who  knew  how  loving  and  true  and  kind  the 
bishop  could  be  to  those  whom  he  felt  it  neces- 
sary, at  times,  to  rebuke  more  sharply,  and  to  con- 
demn more  strongly  than  those  for  whom  he  felt 
less  responsibility. 

On  one  occasion  one  of  many  requests  had  been 
made  by  the  Bishop  about  details  of  ritual  at  Mount 
Calvary  and  S.  Mary's.  This  time  it  was  that  none 
other  but  black  or  white  stoles  should  be  used. 
Other  churches  of  the  city,  without  let  or  hinder- 
ance,  were  using  the  other  ecclesiastical  colors.  A 
promise  of  obedience  was  given,  but  not  without 
the  suggestion  that  it  seemed  a  little  hard  to  be  re- 
strained from  such  slight  excesses  of  ritual  when 
there  were  other  churches  by  omission  violating  so 
many  rubrics  and  canons,  "Well,  Perry,"  replied 
the  bishop,  with  a  smile,  "what  is  the  use  of  be- 


14  (ITtDelue  gears  Qltnong  t[)c  Coloreb  People. 

lieviug  ill  bishops  if  you  are  not  ready  to  suffer  for 
your  principles  ?    If  I  should  interfere  with  the 

practices  of  S. " — mentioning  a  typical  Low 

Church  parish — "they  would  not  obey  me." 

Those  who,  ignorant  of  the  true  relations  Avith 
tlie  bishop,  have  represented  the  clergy  of  Mount 
Calvary  as  ruthlessly  delighting  in  tormenting 
their  bishop,  have  utterly  failed  to  appreciate  the 
delicate  position  in  which  the  clergy  found  them- 
selves. .  They  came  into  the  diocese  when,  as  he 
saw  his  eventful  episcopate  drawing  to  its  close, 
the  bishop  shrank  from  meeting,  with  enfeebled 
powers,  fresh  conflicts.  Yet  while  he  strove  to 
avoid  collision,  when  called  to  act,  with  his  old 
intrepidity  he  spared  neither  himself  nor  others  in 
fulfilling  the  duty.  Some  who  saw  him  painfully 
rise  to  vindicate  himself  in  that  convention,  when 
he  had  been  presented  by  priests  of  his  own  diocese 
for  trial,  recalled  the  dignity  and  indomitable  cour- 
age, mingled  with  anguish,  of  Thorwaldsen's  Dying 
Lion. 

Mount  Calvary  Church,  to  which  these  clergy, 
but  lately  from  the  seminary,  were  called,  was  also 
in  a  critical  condition.  An  idolized  rector — de- 
servedly esteemed — but  whose  work  had  been  pe- 
culiarly, we  might  add,  unfortunately,  personal, 
had  deserted  to  the  Koman  Church.  It  was  com- 
monly reported  that  many  of  the  congregation 
were  about  to  follow  their  former  guide.  Many, 
certainly,  were  naturally  distressed  and  disturbed. 
It  is  believed  that  only  seven  communicants,  all  of 


Jntrobuctoni.  15 


them  women,  were  lost  to  our  communion.  But 
sudden  changes  in  teaching  or  ritual,  even  had  the 
clergy  desired  them,  might  have  produced  disas- 
trous results. 

The  welfare  of  their  flock  pressed  upon  the 
hearts  of  these  young  and  inexperienced  clergy  no 
less  than  consideration  and  reverence  for  their 
father  in  God.  They  had  reason  to  know  that 
many  things,  although  some  were  personally  dis- 
tasteful to  the  Bishop,  would  not  have  called  forth 
censure  but  for  intense  pressure  from  without. 
They  knew  from  himself  that  in  most  important 
points  he  sympathized  with  them — that,  as  he 
himself  expressed  it,  he  disliked  only  the  fringes 
of  a  work  which  otherwise  he  heartily  approved. 
Under  these  circumstances  some  difEerences  were 
inevitable.  To  those  who  knew  the  strong,  fiery, 
dogmatic  natures  of  those  great,  generous  souls, 
Bishop  Whittingham's  and  Joseph  Eichey's,  it  is  a 
proof  of  the  considerateness  of  both  that  in  nearly 
all  points,  after  the  first  moments  of  heat,  a  loving 
agreement  was  reached.  The  interference  on  the 
part  of  a  bishop  in  such  minute  details  of  ritual, 
such  as  material  of  the  vestments,  the  distinction 
between  the  color  of  the  ornamentation  and  the 
groundwork  of  a  stole,  and  the  like,  would  have 
been  resented  by  many  of  the  clergy  who  accused 
Richey  of  a  refractory  spirit  ;  but  to  Richey  his 
bishop  was  a  father,  with  much  higher  claims 
upon  him  than  that  derived  from  canons.  The 
bishop  also  freely  acknowledged  that  he  directed 


16  QLviclvc  fears  QVmong  ti)c  (Hoioxch  JJeople. 

in  matters  which  he  did  not  seek  to  regulate  in  other 
churches.  For  this  there  were  several  reasons. 
His  own  relationship  to  the  parish  from  the  first 
had  been  most  intimate  ;  Mount  Calvary  was 
spoken  of  as  the  bishop's  church ;  he  and  his 
family  attended  its  services.  He  himself  alludes 
to  another  reason  in  a  letter  to  Richey  :  "  Painful 
facts,  daily  coming  to  my  knowledge,  in  illustra- 
tion of  the  evil  results  of  '  letting  alone  '  your  pre- 
decessor in  the  course  so  disastrously  pursued  by 
him."  But  perhaps  the  chief  cause  was  that 
Mount  Calvary  was  made  the  center  of  attack  by 
a  school  of  churchmanship  that  had  battled  with 
him  throughout  his  Episcopate.  It  Avas  his  wish,  at 
whatever  cost  except  that  of  principle,  to  avoid  oc- 
casion for  further  conflict.  In  cases  where  personal 
preferences  alone  were  concerned  the  Mount  Cal- 
vary clergy  were  repeatedly  yielding  to  his  wishes. 
On  one  occasion  the  daily  press  had,  without  any 
foundation  whatever,  announced  the  "blessing" 
of  the  new  altar  of  Mount  Calvary,  and  also  re- 
ferred to  the  disuse  of  the  Processional  Cross  on 
the  occasion  of  an  Episcopal  visitation.  This, 
brought  to  his  official  notice,  called  forth  a 
formal  and  formidable  letter  from  the  Bishop  for- 
bidding the  clergy  severally  and  individually  from 
any  blessing  of  the  altar,  as  it  had  led  him  to  sup- 
pose that  either  they  were  about  to  arrogate  Epis- 
copal functions  by  blessing  it  themselves,  or  had 
committed  schism  by  inviting  some  other  Bishop 
to  intrude  into  his  diocese,  since,  he  added  with 


Sntrobnctoru.  17 


amusing  irony,  lie  had  no  reason  to  suppose  the 
services  of  his  assistant  bisliop  had  been  secured. 
He  also  requested  the  discontinuance  of  the  *'ges- 
tatory  cross."  Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  Mr. 
Richey  briefly  replied  in  the  name  of  the  clergy 
that  the  bishop  might  rest  assured  that  had  the 
thought  of  blessing  the  altar  been  entertained, 
which  was  not  the  case,  he  would  have  been  asked 
to  officiate,  and  that  the  use  of  the  "  Processional 
Cross,"  at  his  request  would  be  discontinued.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  note  could  have  barely  reached 
the  Episcopal  residence  when  the  brief  reply  was 
received:  "Dear  Brethren:  You  have  rejoiced 
the  heart  of  your  bishop  and  fulfilled  his  highest 
expectation  of  you.  Your  loving  friend  and 
brother,  William  E.  Whittingham,  Bishop  of 
Maryland."  The  matter  which  unhappily  embit- 
tered the  last  days  of  the  bishop  and  caused  so 
much  sorrow  to  the  clergy  of  Mount  Calvary  in  in- 
flicting pain  upon  him  in  their  stead  while  they  were 
helpless  to  relieve  him,  was  of  a  different  nature.  In 
discontinuing  tlie  use  of  the  Commendatory  Prayer 
at  funerals,  a  custom  of  several  clergy  of  the  Diocese 
at  the  time  and  of  not  a  few  of  other  Dioceses, 
it  at  first  seemed  to  them  that  they  were  asked  to 
yield  truth  which  they  were  bound  to  defend.  But 
as  soon  as  the  bishop,  with  that  skill  which  was  a 
chief  element  of  his  greatness,  so  placed  the  matter 
that  obedience  could  be  given  without  the  wound- 
ing of  consciences  over-sensitive  in  the  estimate 
of  some,  but  which  he  respected,  the  clergy  with 
8 


18  (Jtuelue  ^caxB  '^mong  tl)e  Coloreb  |)eopk. 

alacrity  yielded.  With  characteristic  delicacy  the 
Bishop  wrote  :  "  By  looking  again  at  my  letter  of 
the  24th,  you  will  perceive  that  it  is  an  expression 
of  regret  for  'offense'  'afforded' — wot  coimnitted 
— a)id  therefore  in  the  nature  of  expostulation  and 
warning — not  of  censure  or  disciplinary  admo- 
nition." Kemoving  all  difficulty  in  acceding  to  his 
wish  by  the  ground  upon  which  he  placed  it,  he 
added  :  "No  doctrinal  point  is  in  discussion,  but 
a  rule  of  practice,  and  that  not  of  private,  per- 
sonal practice,  but  of  the  public  official  practice  of 
one  exercising  a  trust  under  authority."  Had 
others  shown  a  like  wise,  tender  and  conciliatory 
spirit,  the  judicial  archives  of  the  Church  would 
not  now  be  disfigured  with  a  record  at  once  cruel, 
ignorant  aud  unjust.  The  disagreements  of  the 
clergy  of  Mount  Calvary  with  their  bishop  were 
published  on  the  housetops.  The  affectionate  per- 
sonal relations  of  which  we  have  spoken  could  not 
then  be  made  known.  However  the  bishop  may 
have  spoken  to  them  or  of  them  in  moments  of 
irritation,  he  ever  continued  to  affectionately  urge 
them  to  remain  at  their  posts  in  his  Diocese. 

When  Mr.  Eichey  told  him  of  his  acceptance 
of  a  very  honorable. position  in  the  Faculty  of  a 
College,  and  his  proposed  resignation  of  Mount 
Calvary,  he  replied  that  he  took  the  responsibility 
of  forbidding  him  to  leave  the  Diocese,  as  he  could 
not  spare  him.  Mr.  Richey  submitted  without  a 
murmur,  though  at  great  sacrifice  to  himself,  and 
then,  contrary  to  his  judgment  and  inclination. 


Sntrobuctorii.  19 


Bishop  Whittingham  did  not  use  language  care- 
lessly ;  yet  in  a  letter,  dated  August  28,  1877,  he 
thus  sanctions  the  work  which  will  be  the  subject 
of  these  pages,  speaking  of  its  '*  remarkable  degree 
of  good  success":  "In  my  long  experience  I 
have  known  none  more  signal,  and  in  my  judg- 
ment complete,  as  regards  both  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral." "  Under  Mr.  Perry  it  has  my  entire  con- 
fidence." 

It  might  be  of  more  questionable  delicacy  to 
dwell  upon  the  delight  of  family  intercourse  in 
the  bishop's  household  permitted  to  the  young 
clergy,  especially  while  living  as  near  neighbors. 
The  pleasure,  however,  cannot  be  resisted  of  recall- 
ing the  morning  when  the  saintly  De  Koven,  call- 
ing with  the  Eector  of  S.  Paul's  on  the  Mount 
Calvary  clergy,  found  the  writer  very  ill.  Ascend- 
ing the  stairs  to  his  sick-room,  he  met  that  dear 
and  well-loved  partner  of  the  Bishop's  joys  and 
sorrows  on  the  stairs  with  a  tray.  *'  Why,  Mrs. 
Whittingham,  how  came  you  here?"  said  the 
Warden  of  Kacine.  '*0h,"  replied  the  kind 
friend,  "  I  am  just  coming  down  from  giving  a 
luncheon  which  I  bring  every  day  to  my  boy." 
*'  Why  !  is  your  son  here  P'*'  inquired  the  Doctor. 
"These  young  clergy  are  my  boys,"  explained 
the  dear  friend  who  for  days  had  prepared  with 
her  own  hands  and  brought  to  his  bedside  little 
delicacies  to  tempt  the  appetite  of  the  convales- 
cent. When  he  recovered,  the  bishop  sent  a 
large  yellow  silk  handkerchief,  which  he  strictly 


20  Qlvidvc  ^cax5  QVniong  tl)c  Coloreb  |)coplc. 


charged  his  young  clergyman  to  wear  as  a  pro- 
tection to  his  throat,  when  he  first  officiated  in 
church.  It  was  with  great  glee  he  informed  the 
Bishop  that  the  latter  was  guilty  of  "introducing 
ritualistic  novelties,  as  there  was  much  excitement 
at  a  'gold  amice'  having  been  worn  at  Morning 
Prayer  ! " 

It  is  hoped  that  these  anecdotes  of  one  whose 
life,  even  with  the  delightful  and  just  record  that 
a  dear  friend  has  written  of  it,  cannot  be  too  well 
known,  will  excuse  what  might  otherwise  seem  for- 
eign to  the  purpose  in  hand.  If  not,  let  it  be  per- 
mitted as  a  tribute  of  justice  and  affection  to  a 
loved  and  lamented  bishop,  and  to  a  dear  brother 
priest,  whose  memories  are  among  the  writer's 
dearest  treasures  of  the  past.  It  is  believed,  also, 
that  the  knowledge  of  those  earlier  events  will 
not  be  useless  in  forming  a  right  estimate  of  much 
which  will  follow  in  these  pages. 


CHAP'J^ER  n. 

THE  writer's  first  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  COL- 
ORED PEOPLE,  WITH  SOME  REFLECTIONS,  RE- 
SULTING   FROM   FURTHER   ACQUAINTANCE. 

Soon  after  coming  to  Baltimore,  the  writer  was 
asked  to  conduct  a  service  in  S.  Pliilip's  Mission. 
This  little  congregation  of  colored  people  wor- 
shiped in  a  small  hall  over  a  feed-store  on  How- 
ard street.  The  Opera  House  now  occupies  the 
site.  The  room  gave  evidence  of  care  and  an  at- 
tempt at  reverence,  yet  it  was  cheerless  in  the  ex- 
treme. On  one  side  was  a  large  tank,  used  as  a 
font  by  a  former  pastor,  an  eccentric  clergyman, 
afterward  by  times  a  member  of  the  Oriental 
Church  and  a  Baptist.  The  small  altar  had  once 
been  a  shopkeeper's  counter.  An  altar  frontal 
spoke  of  loving  hands  but  poverty  of  resources. 
On  this  absurdly  diminutive  altar  were  two  tiny 
candlesticks.  They  were  not  even  as  large  us 
those  carried  by  a  prominent  New  York  rector  in 
his  pocket  to  his  church,  who  in  reply  to  the  pro- 
test of  a  brother  clergyman  that  they  were  ridicu- 
lously out  of  proportion  to  the  spacious  building, 
said  quietly:  "They  will  grow."  They  have 
grown.  Between  these  candlesticks  was  a  black 
Avalnut  cross  as  large  as  the  altar.    As  it  was  the 


22  dTtDcltie  fears  'i^mong  tl)e  (Holoreb  fJeojile. 

gift  of  Dr.  Milo  Mahan,  it  has  been  carved  and 
gilded,  and  returned  to  S.  Mary's,  out  of  loving 
reverence  for  the  lamented  donor.  It  appears 
large  on  the  present  altar,  which  is  ten  times  the 
size  of  the  little  one  at  S.  Philip's. 

But  these  peculiarities  were  forgotten,  when  the 
service  began,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  hearty 
responses,  the  sweet  music,  the  reverence,  the 
unostentatious  yet  ardent  earnestness  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  enjoyment  was  not  seriously  inter- 
rupted even  by  the  rats  which  ran  about  the 
floor  during  the  service.  In  this  cheerless  room, 
amid  great  discouragements,  these  colored  folks 
had  loyally  and  persistently  maintained  services, 
though  frequently  for  months  at  a  time  without 
the  presence  of  a  clergyman.  At  such  times  one 
of  their  number  acted  as  Lay  reader,  and  the  parish 
visiting,  care  of  the  sick  and  relief  of  the  poor  were 
systematically  divided  among  the  communicants. 
One  of  these  Lay  readers  is  now  the  Rev.  James 
Thompson,  successfully  Avorking  in  Chicago.  *  He 
had  been  ordained  before  we  first  knew  S.  Philip's. 
Another  is  the  Rev.  C.  M.  C.  Mason  of  St.  Louis. 
Of  his  earnest  work  among  his  people  in  that  city 
the  Bishop  of  Missouri  and  clergy  of  St.  Louis 
have  spoken  in  strongest  terms.  Mr.  Mason,  after 
the  breaking  up  of  S.  Philip's,  became  one  of  the 
most  active  workers  in  S.  Mary's,  and  to  the  lovely 
Christian  example  of  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  our 
Senior  Warden,  Mr.  W.  H.  Bishop,  and  to  her 
energy  as  organist  and  clioir  ti'fVJner^  S.  Mary's 


iPirst  Acquaintance.  23 

owes  much  of  the  success  of  her  earlier  years. 
On  the  death  of  his  wife,  Mr.  Mason  moved  to  St. 
Louis  and  assisted  his  old  friend  Mr.  Thompson. 
When  the  latter  accepted  a  call  to  Chicago,  Mr. 
Mason,  strongly  urged  by  the  bishop,  received 
Holy  Orders  and  became  rector  of  the  vacant  parish. 

An  extract  from  a  communication  of  Mr.  Mason 
to  the  MontJily  Chro7iicle,  a  paper  published  in 
the  interest  of  the  colored  people  in  the  earlier 
years  of  our  work,  will  best  relate  the  end  of  S. 
Philip's. 

After  describing  the  starting  out  of  S.  Philip's 
mission  in  the  year  1868,  from  the  older  congrega- 
tion of  S.  James',  whose  existence  at  that  time  he 
writes,  "  might  have  been  considered  precarious 
owing  to  the  sad  neglect  they  were  treated  with  by 
the  churches  in  this  city,"  the  letter  gives  an 
account  of  obtaining  the  consent  of  Bishop  Whit- 
tingham  to  hold  services,  and  of  his  placing  the  in- 
fant mission  under  the  charge  of  the  Eev.  A.  A. 
Curtis  of  Mount  Calvary  Church.  It  is  singular 
that  they  should  have  had  this  early  connection 
with  the  church  in  which  they  were  to  find  a  home 
in  after  years.  The  Eev.  W.  D.  Martin,  now  of 
Eastport,  Maine,  but  then  one  of  the  vestry  of 
Mount  Cavalry  Church,  acted  as  their  lay  reader. 
Then  follows  the  history  of  several  years'  struggle 
under  various  missionaries,  after  which  the  letter 
proceeds  as  follows  : 

''  We  had  received  notice  that  the  building  in 
which  we  had  erected  our  chapel  had  beei;  sold  to 


24  ^mclve  Scars  Qltnoitg  tl^c  Colored  |)co}iU. 

the  city  and  would  shortly  pass  into  its  hands ; 
not  being  able  to  secure  another  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  Avith  the  countenance  of  our  friends 
turned  from  us,  our  days  as  a  congregation  seemed 
numbered.  Mr.  Maitland,  a  lay  reader  who  had 
often  been  with  us,  thinking  to  cheer  us  in  our 
trouble,  got  several  clergymen,  among  them  the 
Kev.  Fleming  James  and  Rev.  Hugh  Roy  Scott,  to 
come  down  at  about  the  last  service  held  at  our 
chapel.  Mr.  James  preached.  He  took  for  his 
text,  Ex.  xiv.  15,  "  Speak  to  the  children  of  Israel 
that  they  go  forward."  There  was  a  great  deal  to 
cheer  in  the  sermon, — there  would  have  been  more 
if  we  could  have  known  just  then  who  was  our 
Moses.  Immediately  after  the  service  we  appointed 
a  committee  to  wait  upon  the  rectors  of  the 
churches  who  heretofore  had  assisted  us  to  see  if 
any  of  them  would  take  us  in  charge.  The  com- 
mittee, at  a  following  meeting,  reported  that  all 
those  waited  upon  had  expressed  for  various  rea- 
sons their  inability  to  do  so,  except  the  rector  of 
Mount  Calvary  (Rev.  Joseph  Richey),  who  said  if  a 
hall  could  not  be  obtained,  he  would  make  pro- 
vision in  his  church,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  special 
service  should  we  desire  it;  though  all  the  pews 
were  free  to  all  luho  chose  to  come,  at  any  and  every 
service. 

On  Sunday,  May  11,  1873,  the  Missionary  con- 
gregation of  S.  Philip's  was  dissolved.  On  Sunday, 
May  18,  the  people  who  composed  it  identified  them- 
selves with  Mount  Calvary  Chapel  of  S.  Mary  the 


ifirst  Qlcrjuointatice.  25 

Virgin.  It  is  a  little  singular  to  remark  that  the  ser- 
mon preached  at  the  first  service  (11  o'clock  a.m.) 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perry,  priest  in  charge,  was  from 
the  same  text  in  Exodus  that  the  Rev.  F.  .James 
took  for  his ;  it  caused  some  of  us  to  think  that  we 
had  found  our  Moses.  At  the  evening  service  the 
rector  of  the  parish,  Rev.  Joseph  Richey,  preached. 
In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  in  stating  why  they 
expected  to  succeed  in  a  work  that  others  had  so 
signally  failed  in,  he  said,  '*  We  have  given  you  an 
altar  no  whit  inferior  to  that  in  the  parish  church  ; 
your  services  shall  be  the  counterpart  of  those  in 
Mount  Calvary,  and  everything  that  is  necessary 
for  the  edification  of  the  people  there,  its  likeness 
shall  be  given  you."  We  were  treated  no  longer 
as  outcasts  to  whom  it  should  be  considered  a 
sufficient  favor  if  the  smallest  trifle  was  given,  but 
as  children  of  One  Father,  bought  by  the  Blood  of 
One  Redeemer,  and  sanctified  by  One  Holy  Spirit." 

And  so  the  work  has  been  successful,  was  so 
the  moment  those  utterances  were  given  with  the 
determination  to  act  upon  them. 

Mr.  Smith,  the  bishop's  secretary — now  the 
Rev.  J.  Stewart  Smith — often  acted  as  lay  reader 
at  S.  Philip's,  and  it  was  at  his  suggestion  that 
the  delegation  called  on  the  Mount  Calvary  Clergy 
whom  he  had  already  interested  in  the  cause. 

The  senior  member  of  this  committee,  Mr.  Rich- 
ard Mason,  a  veteran  in  church  work,  frankly 
confessed  that  the  city  clergy  had  warned  them 
against  "Ritualism,"  and  that  it  would  not  be 


26  SraeUic  ©ears  'i^inong  tlie  Coloreb  People. 

to  their  advantage  to  connect  themselves  with 
Mount  Calvary  Church,  "  but,"  he  naively  added, 
'*we  have  called  in  vain  on  these  cleroy  to  help 
us.     What  can  we  do  but  come  to  you  ?  " 

The  lion-hearted  liichey  was  not  the  man  to 
turn  a  deaf  ear  to  sncli  an  appeal,  however  lim- 
ited his  resources.  While  his  invitation  to  the 
colored  congregation  to  attend  the  services  of 
Mount  Calvary  was  heartily  appreciated — the  italics 
in  the  above  letter  are  Mr.  Mason's — they  strongly 
urged  that  their  separate  existence  should  be  main- 
tained and  a  place  of  worship  provided. 

They  undoubtedly  were  riglit.  However  much 
any  distinction  in  God's  house  or  at  God's  altar  as 
to  race,  color  or  condition  is  to  be  condemned,  it  is 
practically  necessary,  at  least  for  the  present,  that 
the  Church  should  extend  among  the  colored  peo- 
ple chiefly  by  getting  them  into  separate  congrega- 
tions, or  where  that  is  not  possible,  by  holding 
special  services  for  them. 

It  is  said  that,  at  the  North,  offerings  are  with- 
held on  the  plea  that  the  negroes  to-day  are  as 
much  the  parishioners  of  the  Southern  clergy  as 
are  the  whites,  and  that  therefore  there  is  no  need 
of  incurring  expense  by  furnishing  for  them  spe- 
cial clergy  and  churches.     This  is  pure  *' theory." 

The  writer  speaks  as  a  Northerner,  an  "unre- 
constructed "  Northerner,  and  as  an  advocate  of 
the  colored  man.  Yet  he  is  bound  to  acknowledge 
that  he  finds  quite  as  much  genuine  attachment  to 
the  colored  man  in  the  South  as  in  the  North,     If 


iFirst  '^c()naintance.  27 

in  the  South  there  be  a  more  deep-seated  feeling 
about  the  negro's  social  equality,  right  of  suffrage, 
and  his  mingling  with  white  people  in  schools, 
hotels,  and  public  conveyances,  there  is  much  less 
feeling  of  personal  aversion  to  him  on  account  of 
color  than  in  the  North.  Only  those  who  have 
lived  in  both  sections  of  the  country  can  rightly 
comprehend  this  difference,  or  perhaps  fully  believe 
in  its  existence. 

Southerners  have  grown  up  with  them  as  play- 
mates or  foster-brothers  to  whom  they  are  tenderly 
attached,  and  do  not  scruple  to  show  marks  of  strong 
affection.  Old  household  servants  bear  relations  to 
their  former  masters  and  mistresses  which  are 
utterly  unknown  in  Northern  households.  Even 
those  closer  relations  of  blood,  which  form  the  dark- 
est and  foulest  feature  in  the  history  of  slavery,  are 
not  without  examples  of  the  love  that  would  nat- 
urally spring  from  such  relationship. 

Southerners  would  resent  dining  with  colored 
people  as  fellow-guests  at  a  hotel  or  restaurant, 
or  even  sharing  a  seat  in  the  railway  car,  unless 
they  traveled  as  servants  with  them.  We  have 
known  ladies  who  would  have  struck  from  their 
visiting  list  a  friend  who  entertained  a  colored 
guest,  even  the  most  cultured,  but  in  times  of  lone- 
liness or  illness  would  share  their  bed  with  their 
old  "  Mammy  ''  without  hesitation.  The  events  of 
the  last  twenty-five  years  have  greatly  disturbed 
those  relations,  yet  among  the  old  Southern  fami- 
lies there  yemaius  niuch  of  the  former  tenderness, 


28  ®tDelwe  ?3cars  '^^mong  tl)e  (Holoreb  Ipeople. 

well  illustrated  by  an  anecdote  of  a  Southern  bishop 
often  related  to  the  writer  by  this  bishop's  dear 
friend,  himself  a  representative  Southerner,  and 
which  we  give  in  the  words  in  which  he  has  Avrit- 
ten  it  out  for  us. 

"  Only  one  personally  familiar  with  what  has 
ceased- — thank  God  ! — knows  how  many  were  the 
checks  to  a  master's  power,  and  how  many  the  coun- 
terpoises to  the  burden  that  rested  on  his  slave. 
Often  very  dependence  begat  an  affectionate  in- 
terest, and  early  associations  made  loving  friends 
without  a  thought  of  being  equal  friends. 

"An  incident  in  the  life  of  Bishop  Polk,  of 
Louisiana,  will  illustrate  what  is  asserted.  He 
Avas  by  inheritance  and  through  marriage  a  large 
slaveholder.  He  had  no  scruples  of  conscience  to 
make  him  think  of  freeing  his  bondmen;  but  his 
conscience  bade  him  care  for  them — for  their  bodies 
and  for  their  souls.  In  fact,  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility was  one  cause  of  loss  of  fortune  to  him.  He 
was  their  master,  and  therefore  could  not  escape 
from  duty  toward  them.  As  in  other  i-espects  duti- 
ful, he  was  their  faithful  religious  teacher. 

"One  of  these  slaves,  who  was  his  brother  in 
Christ,  was  drawing  nigh  to  death.  The  bishop 
had  administered  to  him  as  a  Christian  priest. 
Still  watching  by  him  he  said,  'Tom,  is  there  any- 
thing else  I  can  do  for  you  ? '  Tlie  answer  was, 
'  Yes,  master,  if  you  will  only  lie  down  by  me  on 
the  bed,  and  put  your  arm  round  my  neck,  and  let 
me  put  my  arm  round  your  neck  as  we  used  to  do 


iPirst  QVrriuaintance.  29 

when  boys'  lying  under  the  green  walnut  trees,  I 
think  I  could  die  more  easy.'  Thus  lying  in  the 
embrace  of  his  master  he  passed  away." 

The  average  Northerner,  on  the  other  hand, 
while  he  may  without  concern  see  the  negro  at  the 
ballot-box,  occupying  a  neighboring  stall  at  the 
theater,  or  with  equal  freedom  using  public  con- 
veyances, is  nevertheless  indifferent  to  his  wel- 
fare. With  a  shrug  he  leaves  him  to  take  his 
chances  with  other  men,  and  rather  prefers  he 
should  keep  at  a  distance.  With  few  exceptions, 
he  is  as  unlikely  as  the  Southerner  to  entertain 
him  at  his  table,  and  feels  very  thoroughly  that  he 
has  too  long  been  a  prominent  factor  in  politics — 
in  which  he  is  undoubtedly  right,  though  the 
blame  is  not  to  be  laid  to  the  colored  man — and  so 
desiresto  hear  as  little  of  him  as  possible. 

This  marked  difference  of  feeling  toward  the 
colored  people  has  long  prevented  hearty  co- 
operation of  the  two  sections  of  the  country  in 
working  earnestly  for  their  good.  Yet  until  such 
union  there  is  little  hope  of  their  true  advance- 
ment. As  President  Haygood*  well  says,  "In  no 
rational  view  of  the  case  is  tliis  a  question  that  one 
political  party  or  section  of  the  country  can  solve 
alone.  If  both  parties,  and  both  parties  working 
together,  can  solve  it,  they  will  do  well.    It  would 

*  Rev.  A.  G.  Haygood,  D.D.,  President  of  Emory  College, 
Oxford,  Ga.,who  in  "  Our  Brother  in  Black,"  while  writing 
as  a  Southerner,  deals  with  the  problem  with  great  fairness 
and  cleverness. 


30  (JtMebe  fears  ^^mong  t[)c  Coloreb  |Jeo|jle. 

be  a  misfortune  to  the  country  if  either  one  of  the 
parties  couki  solve  it  independently  of  the  other 
party.  This  is  not  a  party  or  sectional  problem, 
it  is  the  task  of  the  nation.^^ 

In  this  matter  of  drawing  a  "color  line  "  in  the 
churches  there  is  little  difference  in  the  two  sec- 
tions of  the  country.  In  an  old  New  England 
church,  we  well  remember  the  long  line  of  neatly 
dressed  people  with  black  faces  coming  from  the 
far-off  gallery  to  make  their  communion  after  those 
"in  gold  rings  and  goodly  apparel"  had  first  been 
served  at  the  Lord's  Table.  This  custom  is  not 
exceptional  in  the  North. 

To  expect  more  of  Southerners  than  of  North- 
erners is  unreasonable.  It  is  certainly  the  duty  of 
clergy  and  congregations  of  all  Christian  churches 
to  welcome  colored  communicants  with  that  char- 
ity which  bears  in  mind  that  God  is  "  no  respecter 
of  persons,"  but  where  there  are  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  colored  people,  it  is  no  doubt,  at  least  while 
prejudice  remains  so  strong,  best  for  themselves 
that  they  should  have  churches  of  their  own.  In 
the  South  there  would  often  not  be  room  in  exist- 
ing congregations  for  colored  people.  Hiring  a 
seat  in  "  pewed  churches"  is  contrary  to  their 
customs  and  generally  beyond  their  means.  They 
are  not  unnaturally  too  sensitive  to  occupy  "  free 
seats  "  in  some  obscure  corner.  But  there  are  other 
and  still  more  justifiable  reasons.  Only  by  gath- 
ering them  into  separate  congregations  can  services 
and  teachings  be  adapted  to  their  condition  and 


iFirst  ^crfnaintance.  31 

wants,  and  so  only  can  an  active  and  personal 
share  in  parochial  work  be  theirs.  As  a  part  of  a 
white  congregation,  they  would  remain  an  inap- 
preciable element.  There  could  then  be  no  sphere 
of  labor  for  colored  clergy.  The  colored  people 
would  not  probably  be  found  in  choirs,  vestries  or 
parochial  societies,  nor  taking  part  in  diocesan. 
affairs.  They  Avould  therefore  have  little  personal 
interest  in  the  Church's  life  and  growth. 

With  these  arguments  the  delegation  from  S. 
Philip's  urged  their  request.  A  place  where  they 
could  continue  a  distinct  congregation  was  prom- 
ised them  if  Bishop  Whittingham  approved. 

The  bishop  readily  gave  his  approval,  although 
on  account  of  some  former  relations  to  the  congre- 
gation he  requested  us  to  begin  our  work  among 
colored  people  without  relation  to  S.  Philip's,  and 
under  another  name.  The  name  of  S.  Mary  the 
Virgin  was  adopted  for  the  new  enterprise.  A 
few  colored  women  who  had  long  been  communi- 
cants of  Mount  Calvary  Church  and  some  others 
gathered  from  the  neighborhood  were  assembled 
for  the  first  service  on  Sunday  morning,  March 
23,  1873,  in  the  chapel  of  the  All  Saints  Mission 
House,  No.  85  Preston  St. 

The  All  Saints  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  at  the  request 
of  the  Mount  Calvary  clergy  and  with  the  hearty 
sanction  of  the  Bishop  of  Maryland,  had  sent  from 
their  mother  house  in  London  three  of  their  num- 
ber to  establish  the  Order  in  Baltimore.  These 
English  Sisters  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  colored 


32  (Jujclue  fears  ^mong  tl)c  Coloreb  |Jcoplc. 

people.  Until  we  could  obtain  a  building  they 
loaned  their  chapel,  and  soon  after,  one  of  their 
number  was  assigned  to  work  among  the  colored 
people,  for  whom  a  Mission  House  and  school  on 
Biddle  Street  were  opened.  At  the  first  service,  a 
celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion,  the  priest  in 
charge  was  celebrant,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Evelyn 
Bartow. 

AVhile  worshiping  in  the  Mission  House  Ave 
had  as  server  a  comical  little  fellow,  Henry,  the 
son  of  our  cook  at  the  Clergy  House.  He  shall 
describe  himself.  The  Rev.  Arthur  Ritchie,  dur- 
ing that  year  one  of  our  number,  had  observed  the 
way  in  which  the  colored  people  sort  each  other 
out  into  "brown  skinned  men,"  "dark  skinned 
men,"  "yellow  men,"  'Might"  and  "fair"  peo- 
ple, while  with  cruel  irony  they  sometimes  speak 
of  white  people  in  distinction  from  "colored"  as 
"plain  people  !  "  This  accuracy  of  classification 
is  apt  to  puzzle  the  uninitiated.  So  Mr.  Ritchie 
asked  the  boy,  "  Henry,  are  you  a  dark  skinned 
boy  or  a  yellow  skinned  ?  "  "  I'se  neither,  Massa 
Ritchie,  I'se  kinder  ginger  snap  color,  sah  !  " 

Red  cassocks  had  been  suggested  for  use  in  the 
choir,  by  Mr.  Smith,  the  bishop's  secretary,  who 
had  won  the  bishop  to  the  plan. 

Later,  owing  to  their  offending  some  over-tender 
consciences,  the  bishop  said  one  day,  "  Perry,  you'd 
better  send  those  cassocks  to  the  dye-house."  The 
hint  was  taken  and  they  became  a  more  sober  blue. 
On  the  morning  that  the  red  cassock  was  to  delight 


iFitst  QVci^uaintancc.  33 

Henry,  in  spite  of  the  anticipation,  he,  as  was 
not  unusual,  overslept  himself.  The  cassock,  owing 
to  some  delay,  remained  unfinished,  even  sleeve- 
less, in  the  sisters'  workroom.  About  the  middle 
of  the  service  the  celebrant  was  startled  by  a 
stealthy  noise,  and  turning,  saw  Henry  creeping 
on  all  fours  toward  the  altar,  his  black  face,  legs, 
and  arms  protruding  from  the  unfinished  cassock 
like  the  black  head  and  legs  of  a  huge  red-winged 
beetle. 

Two  months  later  we  obtained  a  small  hall  on 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  near  Orchard  Street.  Sun- 
day, May  18,  we  held  our  first  service  there.  The 
larger  portion  of  S.  Philip's  congregation,  about 
thirty  communicants,  then  joined  us.  Had  the  pres- 
ent beautiful  marble  altar  and  mosaic  reredos  then 
adorned  Mount  Calvary,  Mr.  Richey  could  not  have 
referred  truthfully — as  mentioned  in  Mr.  Mason's 
letter — to  St.  Mary's  as  its  equal.  But  the  ex- 
temporized chancel  was  very  pretty.  The  altar 
was  large  and  effective,  its  three  retables  brilliant 
with  lights  and  flowers.  Behind  and  at  the  sides 
were  hangings  of  white  and  blue.  A  surpliced  choir 
had  been  trained  by  Mrs.  Mason,  and  the  singing 
was  such  as  many  a  church  might  have  emulated. 

By  the  kindness  of  a  friend,  for  whose  generous 
aid  we  cannot  be  too  grateful,  we  were  enabled  to 
call  the  Rev.  Alfred  B.  Leeson,  to  assist  in  the 
Avork.  He  had  just  entered  on  his  labors  when 
the  same  friend  purchased  for  our  use  a  neat 
chapel  of  white  "Baltimore  County  marble," 
3 


situated  on  Orchard  Street  near  tlie  corner  of 
Madison  Avenue.  Orchard  Street  is  exclusively 
inhabited  by  colored  people  ;  St.  Mary's  Street  in 
the  rear  of  the  chapel  hardly  less  so.  Yet  both 
are  broad  well-shaded  streets,  quite  different  from 
the  alleys  into  which  most  of  the  colored  people 
are  crowded.  The  chapel  is  conveniently  situated 
almost  directly  across  the  street  from  Mount  Cal- 
vary Church.  On  Sunday,  S.  Matthew's  day, 
Sept.  21st,  of  the  same  year  we  held  our  first  ser- 
vice in  our  new  home. 

So  with  blessings  beyond  our  fondest  hopes,  the 
work  began  among  a  people  Avhom  the  Church  had 
so  long  neglected.  To  the  first  effort  in  their  be- 
half they  heartily  responded,  and  from  that  time 
have  not  failed  to  do  their  part.  An  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  them  has  deepened  the  impression  that  while 
they  are  as  far  removed  from  the  ideal  of  the  novel- 
ist as  the  genuine  Indian  is  from  Cooper's  "  noble 
savage,"  yet  they  possess  amiable  and  noble  traits 
which  have  received  scanty  justice  from  their 
white  brethren.  In  estimating  the  character  of 
the  colored  people  of  this  country,  it  is  difficult  to 
do  them  justice  on  account  of  their  juxtaposition 
with  a  people  of  chiefly  English  origin.  By  no 
people  are  they  more  likely  to  be  severely  judged, 
in  contrast  to  no  jieople  would  they  appear  to 
greater  disadvantage. 

The  character  of  the  English  speaking  people, 
what  is  popularly  termed  Anglo-Saxon  character, 
has  undoubtedly  many  noble  traits.     The  English 


iFirst  '^crjuaintancc.  35 

folk  seem  fitted  and  destined  to  become  masters  of 
a  great  part  of  the  world.  In  colonizing,  in  the 
extending  their  language  and  in  controlling- 
thought,  the}'  rival  the  Greeks,  no  less  than  in  ex- 
tending their  empire  they  rival  the  IJomans.  They 
carry  with  them  into  all  lands  sturdy  virtues, 
honesty,  truthfulness,  energy,  and  a  sort  of  robust 
manliness  which  never  fails  to  command  respect. 

But  their  advent  is  not  an  unmixed  joy  to  a 
weaker  race.  They  are  prone  to  exterminate  as 
well  as  predominate.  Before  the  march  of  their 
superior  institutions  the  aborigiiies  vanish.  Un- 
like the  warmer  hearted  Latin  and  Celtic  races, 
the  Englishman  has  little  power  of  adaptation  to 
the  national  peculiarities  of  other  nations.  Where 
he  cannot  convert  to  his  own  standard  he  tramjDles 
out.  What  he  cannot  assimilate  he  will  not  tole- 
rate. As  the  genuine  Englishman  will  eat,  dress, 
and  work  in  a  tropical  country  as  he  would  in 
England,  and  despises  all  food  but  joints  of  beef  and 
mutton,  no  matter  in  what  climate,  so  he  finds  it 
hard  todo  justice  to  virtues  thii,t  lie  does  not  possess, 
or  condone  the  absence  of  those  that  are  character- 
istically English.  He  has  little  power  to  put  him- 
self in  another's  place.  To  tlie  true  Britisher,  one 
of  another  nation,  and  still  more  one  of  another 
race,  is  as  the  Gentile  to  the  Jew,  the  barbarian  to 
the  Greek. 

An  acquaintance  of  the  writer  stood  in  an  Italian 
post  office  when  an  Englishman  came  in  to  have  a 
letter  registered.      The  Italian   postmaster,  who 


36  ®u)doe  l^caxB  QVmong  tl)c  (Eoloreb  J)eo|)U. 

could  understiind  though  he  could  not  speak  Eng- 
lish, took  the  letter  and,  in  Italian,  inquired  the 
name.  The  Englishman,  who  did  not  understand 
a  word  of  Italian,  replied  somewhat  sternly,  "I 
wish  it  registered."  "Si,  Si,  Signore,  certamente; 
che  nome?  With  reddening  face,  the  Englishman 
thundered,  "  I  wish  it  registered."  How  long 
these  pertinent  replies  might  have  followed  cannot 
be  known,  for  the  American  gentleman  at  this 
point  stepped  forward  and  said  :  "  The  postmaster 
is  quite  ready  to  send  the  letter,  sir,  but  asks  your 
name."  "Aw!"  replied  the  now  pacified  repre- 
sentative of  the  British  lion,  "  I  did  not  under- 
stand. How  unfortunate  for  these  Italians  that 
they  do  not  i in dej' stand  oiir  language.'" 

Exclusive  of  the  negro,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States  are  chiefly  of  English  origin.  As 
Mr.  Freeman  well  observes  in  his  sagacious  but 
thoroughly  English  ''  Impressions  of  the  United 
States,"  "though  the  infusion  of  foreign  elements 
has  been  large,  yet  it  is  the  English  kernel  which 
has  assimilated  these  foreign  elements."  It  is  our 
privilege,  as  he  claims  for  us,  as  it  may  well  be  our 
pride,  to  belong  to  the  great  family  of  "English 
folk."  Yet  this  "infusion  of  foreign  element,"  as 
well  as  many  other  causes,  as  of  climate,  national 
institutions,  early  French  influences  and  the  like, 
have  greatly  modified  in  us  the  character  which  we 
may  term  English  or  British,  since  Anglo-Saxon 
is  not  unreasonably  condemned  in  the  above  work 
as  a  misnomer.     Not  without  the  loss  of  some  of 


ifiret  '!^cijuaintancc.  37 

the  sternef,  manly  cliaracteristics  of  our  English 
forefathers,  the  bluntness,  the  shyness,  the  ex- 
clusiveuess,  the  inadaptability  of  the  genuine 
Britisher  have  also  to  a  great  extent  disappeared 
in  his  "American  cousin."  But  we  have  not  lost 
those  English  traits  which  serve  to  drive  out  and 
exterminate,  instead  of  raising  and  assimilating, 
weaker  races,  as  may  be  seen  in  our  attitude  toward 
the  three  of  the  great  families  of  mankind  in  our 
land— the  Indian,  the  Negro,  the  Mongolian.  The 
presence  of  these  alien  races  is  an  offense  to  us, 
largely  because  they  are  so  dissimilar  to  ourselves, 
while  their  virtues — virtues  which  those  who  know 
them  best  testify  are  characteristic  in  each  of  these 
races — count  for  little  because  they  are  not  English 
virtues.  For  example,  do  gentleness,  endurance, 
gratitude,  warm  affection,  amiability,  a  dread  of 
bloodshed,  and  deep,  devotional  spirit  count  for 
nothing  in  the  negro  character?  But  it  is  his 
alleged  dishonesty  and  unchastity  that  are  alone 
dwelt  upon,  and  chiefly  because  he  is  contrasted 
not  with  the  white  man  in  general,  but  with  Eng- 
lish speaking  peoples,  who  especially  pride  them- 
selves, though  we  fear  with  ever  lessening  claim, 
on  honesty  and  chastity.  But  the  African  is 
a  son  of  the  tropics.  His  blood  has  boiled  for 
ages  in  equatorial  heat.  Aside  from  all  questions 
of  the  influence  of  slavery,  resemblances  to  his 
native  character  among  white  peoples  should  be 
sought  not  among  the  descendants  of  those  who 
were  nursed  amid  the  cold  mists  and  bracing  blasts 


38  Cujcloe  ^eax5  Qlmong  tl)c  Colorcb  laconic. 

of  the  North  Sea,  bat  iimong  the  children  of 
warmer  climes  beneath  southern  skies.  If  he  is 
lacking  in  the  ferociousness,  the  love  of  slaughter, 
and  the  devotion  to  selfish  interests  which  are  ever 
reappearing  in  those  in  whose  veins  flows  the  blood 
of  the  Norsemen  and  the  Vikings,  it  is  not 
strange  that  he  should  reveal  the  passionate  yet 
indolent  tendencies  of  all  Southern  races. 

It  was  during  a  brief  stay  in  Italy  that  this 
thought  forcibly  impressed  the  writer.  The  kind- 
ness of  dear  and  honored  friends  there,  whose  pa- 
tience with  his  inquisitiveness  he  cannot  too  grate- 
fully acknowledge,  gave  him  unusual  advantage  in 
gaining  an  insight  into  the  character  of  the  people, 
in  spite  of  his  visit  being  confined  to  a  few  weeks. 
No  one  would  think,  unless  from  very  Anglican 
prejudice,  of  classing  as  among  inferior  races  the  in- 
habitants of  that  fairest  of  all  lands,  the  successors 
and  at  least  in  ])art  the  descendants  of  the  people 
who  once  ruled  the  world,  who  in  later  times  have 
gained  more  glorious  victories  in  the  realm  of 
thought  and  art,  by  Dante,  by  I'etrarch  and 
Sappho,  by  Eaphael  and  Michael  Angelo.  If  to-day 
young  Italy  rising  to  a  third  career  of  greatness, 
with  the  invincible  and  immortal  vigor  which 
neither  Rome's  decline,  nor  Papal  oppression 
could  shackle  with  eternal  chains,  is  not  allowed 
to  be,  as  the  writer  felt,  the  most  fascinating  and 
in  many  respects  one  of  the  noblest  of  the  peoples 
of  the  earth,  yet  who  would  dare  to  look  with  con- 
descension upon  the  Roman  or  the  Florentine,  or 


i^irst  C^cfjuaintancc.  39 

even  the  Neapolitan  or  the  Venetian?  Yet  in  the 
working  classes  of  these  lovely  cities,  especially  of 
the  last  two  named,  are  found  many  of  those  traits 
which  are  common,  as  we  believe,  to  all  Southern 
natures,  but  from  which  as  "  negro  characteristics  " 
we  turn  with  aversion.  An  intelligent  English  lady, 
who  has  for  many  years  kept  house  near  Naples, 
spoke  of  her  love  for  the  lower  classes  of  Southern 
Italy,  but  she  added  that  one  must  know  them 
well  to  feel  so  toward  them.  The  first  impression 
was  of  their  dishonesty  and  untruthfulness.  Sums 
of  money  and  valuables  might  be  left  unguarded, 
but  she  knew  that  many  families  were  being  fed 
from  the  pilfering  from  her  store-room.  This  they 
did  not  consider  stealing.  They  seldom  told  ma- 
licious or  deliberate  lies,  but  their  excuses  did  not 
bear  the  light  of  truth.  Winning  in  their  ways, 
grateful  and  faithful  to  those  they  loved,  they 
were  a  race  of  afEectionate  children.  Could  the 
colored  servants  of  a  Southern  household  be  more 
accurately  described  ? 

In  loveliest  Venice  too,  the  chorus  that  early  in 
the  morning  wakens  one  who  dwells  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Grand  Canal,  the  ceaseless  chatter  of 
gondoliers,  peasants  and  beggars  gathered  on  the 
Eiva,  mingled  with  snatches  of  song,  mock  quarrels 
and  bursts  of  laughter,  while  from  the  narrow 
"Calli"  are  heard  the  pathetic,  pleading  cries  of 
the  hucksters,  chanting  the  merits  of  their  wares, 
are  not  unlike  the  noises  that  are  heard  through 
the  open  windows  in  Baltimore  at  the  same  hour. 


40  (EtDclwc  ^cavQ  ^^mong  tl)c  Colorcb  |))co}ilc. 

when  the  sprinkling  of  streets  and  the  washing 
of  marble  steps  begin.  The  colored  people  are 
not  less  like  the  Venetian,  as  Howell  cleverly  de- 
scribes him,  "loving  best  of  everything  a  clamor- 
ous quarrel  carried  on  with  the  canal  between  him 
and  his  antagonist  ;  but  next  to  this  he  loves  to 
spend  his  leisure  at  the  ferry  in  talking  of  eating 
and  of  money." 

Howell  quotes  a  recent  Venetian  writer  as  say- 
ing, "  No  one  can  deny  that  our  populace  is  loqua- 
cious and  quick  witted,  but  on  the  other  hand  no 
one  can  deny  that  it  is  regardless  of  improvement. 
Venice,  a  city  exceptional  in  its  construction,  its 
customs,  and  its  habits,  has  also  an  exceptional 
populace.  It  still  feels,  although  sixty-eight  years 
have  passed,  the  influence  of  the  system  of  the 
fallen  Republic,  of  that  oligarchic  government, 
which  affording  almost  every  day  some  amusement 
of  the  people,  left  them  no  time  to  think  of  their 
offended  rights." 

The  "cake  walk  "  and  nightly  dance  served  much 
the  same  purpose  in  causing  the  slave  to  forget  his 
bondage.  Even  the  form  of  their  religion,  the  wild 
orgies  of  the  bush-meeting,  left  their  moral  train- 
ing as  neglected  as  the  empty  ecclesiastical  pageants 
of  the  Italian  Church  left  that  of  the  Venetians. 
The  lack  of  work  at  Venice,  and  the  small  amount 
of  work  expected  or  required  from  the  slave  also 
have  produced  like  results.  Both  people  seem,  in 
the  expressive  language  of  the  colored  people,  to 
have  "  been  born  tired."     So  long  has  every  career 


irirst  '^Xrrfuaintnncc.  41 

worthy  of  ambition  been  closed  to  them,  they  have 
ceased  to  strive.  Nature  adapts  herself.  The 
organs  of  sight  in  the  mole  become  small,  in  the  fish 
of  subterranean  caves  they  disappear.  No  wonder 
the  negro  has  in  many  respects  (as  he  expresses 
it),  "  de-vanced  instead  of  advanced."  The  great 
difficulty  of  stimulating  the  colored  people  to 
throw  off  this  lethargy  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
discouragements  to  be  met  by  those  who  have 
labored  among  them.  But  a  trait  that  has  for 
ages  been  crushed  out  demands  time  for  restora- 
tion. The  convalescent  walks  with  but  feeble 
steps  at  first  in  daisied  fields,  which  yet  he  may 
have  viewed  from  his  window  with  longing  eyes. 

The  two  peoples  have  the  same  power  of  lightly 
throwing  off  sorrow  and  misery  and  laughing 
through  their  tears.  They  have  grown  content  with 
their  lot.  A  feast  of  polenta  and  a  half  glass  of  the 
cheap  native  wine,  and  the  Venetian  is  happy  as  a 
king.  Its  memories  furnish  an  agreeable  topic  for 
thought  and  conversation  the  rest  of  the  day.  It 
is  of  little  moment  if  he  sleep  under  his  cloudless 
beautiful  sky.  Climate  makes  the  colored  man  of 
America  differ  from  him  in  this  last  respect  only. 
To  pay  his  rent  and  keep  a  roof  over  his  head  is 
his  first  anxiety.  Landlords  prefer  colored  tenants 
to  white  ;  they  say  that  they  are  more  sure  of  their 
rent.  In  the  matter  of  eating  there  is  a  closer  re- 
semblance to  th5  Italian.  None  enjoy  good  eat- 
ing more  than  the  colored  people.  They  are  born 
cooks  and  epicures.     Soft  shell  crabs,  canvas  backs 


42  CtweltJC  ^caxB  'i^tttong  tlje  (Eoloreb  |)eoplc. 

and  terrapin  are  more  frequently  found  at  their 
feasts  than  would  be  supposed.  But  they  are  as 
cheerful  and  content  when  they  return  to  their 
frugal  meals — if  meals  they  have.  Many  house- 
holds have  no  regular  meals.  Each  member  of 
the  family  comes  in  from  his  work  when  he  can, 
''snatches  a  bite" — his  mouth  as  full  of  laughter 
as  of  food — and  is  off  again. 

This  simple,  childlike  nature,  improvident,  cloak- 
ing misery  beneath  laughter,  has  been  at  once 
the  j)rotection  and  the  curse  of  both  peoples. 
One  who  lives  among  the  Italian  peasantry  or  the 
Southern  freedmen  grows  to  expect  little  of  them, 
and  to  love  them  and  indulge  them  as  children. 
Who  can  resist  the  pleading  look  from  the  deep 
violet  eyes  of  the  picturesque  youth  who  has  listless- 
ly guided  your  gondola  to  the  landing,  when  you 
know  that  a  few  soldi  dropped  into  a  hand  ex- 
tended with  a  courtier's  grace  will  bring  a  gleam 
of  sunshine  from  the  beautiful  eyes  and  from  the 
full  ripe  Italian  lips  a  torrent  of  benedictions  that 
will  flatter  you  into  thinking  yourself  generous  ? 
If  the  colored  people  have  not  as  a  rule  the  same 
eloquence  of  beauty,  they  are  not  destitute  of  grace, 
and  it  is  with  much  the  same  feeling  that  the  true 
Southerner  regards  the  ''  old  time  "  negro. 

There  are  few  street  beggars  among  the  colored 
peoi)le.  There  is  little  need  of  soliciting  on  the 
street.  Besides  the  fact  that  they  are  content  with 
little,  and  that  although  they  may  berate  each 
other  with  their  tongues  they  are  very  generous  in 


ifirst  ':Xci|Maintancc.  43 

aiding  each  other  in  real  need,  tliere  is  for  the  older 
generation  "  ole  massa  "  as  a  last  resort.  Annt 
Tilly  ''Hasjis  dropped  ronn'  to  see  if  Massa's  bin 
well  all  dis  time,  cnnse  Annt  Tilly  thonghta  mos' 
Massa  mnst  ha'  done  gone  away,  cans'  she  'lows 
it  seems  like  he  mos'  forgot  Annt  Tilly  so  long," 
and  as  the  faithfnl  old  sonl  drops  a  conrtesy  with 
the  words,  'SSpec'  Honey  ain't  goin'  to  forgit  Annt 
Tilly  dis  time  no  how,  is  ye  ?  "  few  gennine  trne- 
hearted  Sontherners  wonld  resist  the  appeal.  Mnch 
of  this  old  patriarchal  feeling  remains  in  all  parts 
of  the  Sonth,  and  many  an  old  honsehold  servant 
is  kept  comfortably  honsed  and  fed  by  children 
and  even  grandchildren  of  former  owners. 

There  is  something  which  pccnliarly  appeals  to 
the  strong  Anglo-Saxon  heart  in  this  relation  of 
dependence,  as  the  strong-hearted  oak  seems  to 
woo  the  vine  to  wind  its  tendrils  abont  its  stnrdy 
limbs. 

Yet  however  kind-hearted  this  manner  of  treat- 
ing the  colored  people  may  be,  and  perhaps  neces- 
sary in  past  relations,  it  will  not  now  fit  him  for 
that  strnggle  in  life  which  in  his  changed  con- 
dition he  cannot  escape.  For  the  younger  genera- 
tion at  least  it  is  mistaken  kindness.  It  belongs 
to  that  same  tendency  of  which  Howell  complains 
in  regard  to  the  Venetians,  "really  fatal  to  all  sin- 
cerity of  judgment,  and  incalculably  mischievons 
to  such  down-fallen  people  as  have  felt  the  baleful 
effects  of  the  world's  sentimental,  impotent  sym- 
pathy." 


44  CtDcloc  ^cax5  Qlmong  tl)c  (tolorcb  |)copU. 

Tlicre  are  graver  charges  against  the  colored 
man  which  we  must  not  ignore.  To  his  alleged 
dislionesty  we  have  already  alluded.  Clear  notions 
of  the  right  of  property  is  probably  among  all  na- 
tions a  result  of  civilization.  The  absolute  savage 
cannot  draw  a  very  distinct  line  between  "  meum" 
and  "tuum."  Slavery  was  a  poor  instructor  in 
this  principle  of  social  economy,  and  it  is  not  re- 
markable that  such  ideas  of  the  right  of  possession 
as  the  African  may  have  brought  from  his  native 
wilds  should  have  been  sadly  confused.  Dr. 
Tucker,  in  his  "Relations  of  the  Church  to  the 
Colored  Race,"*  a  witness  that  cannot  be  im- 
pugned as  prejudiced  in  the  negro's  favor,  thus 
apologizes  for  this  habit  of  pilfering.  "It  never 
seemed  wrong  for  the  slave  to  steal  from  his  own 
master.  He  was  but  property  himself,  and  it  was 
*all  in  the  family.'  Besides  he  worked  for  noth- 
ing, and  it  seemed  to  him  but  justice  that  he 
should  enjoy  some  of  his  master's  good  things,  for 
which  his  labor  paid.  Something  of  this  feeling 
the  owners  also  had,  so  that  petty  pilfering  was 
looked  upon  by  both  races  as  a  matter  of  course,  a 
thing  to  be  winked  at.  *  *  *  This  was  always 
in  all  countries  one  of  the  natural  results  of  slav- 

*  We  by  no  means  agree  with  much  in  Dr.  Tucker's  pam- 
phlet, but  we  respect  his  candor,  and  as  a  discussion  of  the 
question  from  a  strongly  Southern  stand-point,  it  demands 
an  attentive  consideration.  Both  it  and  the  able  answer  by 
Dr.  Crummel,  a  representative  negro,  should  be  carefully 
read  by  those  who  would  master  the  "  negro  problem." 


ifirst  Qlcrjiiaintancc.  45 

ery.  *  *  *  They  would  rarely  steal  money  even 
when  they  had  opportunity." 

This  amounts  to  an  acquittal  of  the  negro  as  a 
race  of  any  characteristic  tendency  to  steal.  To 
help  himself  to  his  master's  goods  is  the  natural 
instinct  of  the  slave  of  any  race.  It  was  so  of  the 
Roman  slaves,  who  were  captives  of  all  races.  The 
slave's  way  of  looking  at  the  question  is  well  illus- 
trated by  Sambo,  who,  when  rebuked  for  stealing 
his  master's  turkey,  replied,  ''Sambo  no  steal  tur- 
key. Sambo  massa's,  and  turkey  massa's.  Turkey 
jis  much  massa's  when  he  inside  Sambo  as  eber." 

Were  dishonesty  universal  among  the  colored 
people  as  a  result  of  past  slavery,  it  could  not  be  a 
cause  of  surprise.  But  it  is  not.  There  are  men 
and  women  among  the  colored  people  upon  whose 
honesty  entire  trust  may  be  placed.  We  may  well 
hope,  therefore,  that  in  a  state  of  freedom,  and 
with  the  restraints  with  which  civilized  society 
protects  itself,  the  negro  Avill  become  sufficiently 
honest  to  cause  the  white  man  to  lock  to  his  own 
record  on  Wall  Street  before  he  points  the  finger 
at  his  black  brother.  As  to  the  charge  of  univer- 
sal untruthfulness  in  the  negro.  Dr.  Tucker  points 
out  that  the  ''instinct  of  concealment"  also  is  a 
necessary  result  of  slavery.  It  is  indeed  the  excep- 
tional school-boy  who  will  not  lie  out  of  a  flogging. 
Such  virtue  could  not  be  expected  in  the  slave. 
It  may  be  predicted,  however,  that  the  negro,  in 
common  with  all  Oriental  peoples,  and  with  South- 
ern Europeans,  will  never  have  as  strict  a  standard 


46  €u)clne  l^cars  QVmong  tlic  dToIoreb  J)eo|j|£. 

of  veracity  as  that  whicli  seems  to  be  naturally 
connected  with  the  blnntness  and  coldness  of 
Northern  races. 

But  the  gravest  charge  that  has  been  made 
against  the  negro,  one  that  may  not  be  ignored  in 
any  candid  consideration  of  his  character,  is,  that 
chastity  is  unknown  to  him.  It  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  revolting  facts  seem  to  justify  the  asser- 
tion. Atrocious  deeds  that  appear  not  infrequently 
in  our  papers  seem  to  make  men  guard  their  wives 
and  daughters  from  some  of  their  former  slaves  as 
from  brute  beasts. 

It  has  been  customary  to  assert  that  licentious- 
ness is  an  element  of  the  African  character  brought 
with  him  from  his  native  home,  a  necessary  trait 
of  barbarous  life.  The  assertion  seems  wholly  un- 
warranted. It  is  apparently  only  a  welcome  but 
futile  subterfuge  of  the  white  man,  who  may  well 
shrink  from  regarding  the  degradation  of  his  black 
brother  as  the  result  of  his  own  institution. 

Dr.  Crummell,  who  has  lived  twenty  years  in 
West  Africa,  says  of  the  native  women,  "Their 
maidenly  virtue,  the  instinct  to  chastity,  is  a 
marvel.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  the  generaliza- 
tion that  in  West  Africa,  every  female  is  a  virgin 
to  the  day  of  her  marriage.  The  harlot  class  is 
unknown  in  all  their  tribes.  I  venture  the  asser- 
tion that  any  one  walking  through  Pall  Mall,  Lon- 
don, or  Broadway,  New  York,  for  a  week  would 
see  more  indecency  in  look  and  act  than  he  could 
discover  in  an  African  town  in  a  dozen  years. 


Jirst  9Vcr|naintancc.  47 

Daring  niy  residence  there  I  only  once  saw  an  in- 
decent act."  Bishop  Penick,  formerly  of  Cape 
Palmas,  himself  a  Sontherner,  and  ''called  into 
court"  as  a  witness  by  Dr.  Tucker,  says,  "It  is  a 
very  rare  exception  to  find  a  young  woman  or  man 
by  look  or  gesture  conveying  an  immodest  impres- 
sion. So  one  may  walk  through  a  heathen  town 
full  of  almost  naked  people  and  see  less  immodesty 
than  in  some  of  our  most  fashionable  streets  in 
some  of  our  best  cities."  "It  is  a  very  rare  thing 
to  see  a  native  man  or  woman  do  an  immodest  act 
or  to  say  an  immodest  word." 

In  order  to  add  testimony  wholly  independent 
of  any  controversial  bias,  the  following  letter  has 
been  obtained  from  a  distinguished  missionary  of 
the  University  Mission  to  Central  Africa.  It  is  due 
to  the  kindness  of  a  friend,  Mr.  Edward  Wink- 
ley — himself  preparing  at  the  Missionary  Theo- 
logical College  at  Dorchester,  for  the  same  mission 
field — who  asked  Mr.  Johnson's  opinion  of  the 
statement  contained  in  Dr.  Tucker's  speech,  "  That 
what  we  call  morality,  whether  in  the  relation  of 
the  sexes,  or  in  the  sense  of  truthfulness,  or  in 
the  sense  of  honesty,  has  no  lodgment  whatever 
in  the  native  African  heart."     This  is  his  reply: 

Jan.  23,  1884, 
Dear  Sib, 

Mr.  W.  lias  brought  under  my  notice  some  paragraphs 
which  represent  the  negro  as  devoid  of  moral  feeling. 
After  seven  years  intimate  communion  witli  Africans  in 
East  Africa  between  5°  south  and  W  south,  I  feel  called 


48  Ctoeliic  ^ears  '^Among  tl)e  ffiolorcb  JJcopU. 

on  to  testify  to  tlie  moral  practice  of  the  natives  I  have 
come  across. 

The  marriage  tie  is  respected,  and  the  youth  of  each  vil- 
lage lead  a  life  generally  free  from  gross  immorality. 
Partly  owing  to  the  hardships  attaching  to  their  life,  they 
are  very  slavt-s  to  eating  and  drinking,  and  even  if  native 
beer  abounds  are  very  besotted.  Any  use  of  bad  language  is 
a  gross  offense  against  society. and  is  only  picked  up  from  the 
coast  people.  Venereal  diseases  are  only  known  as  imported 
from  the  coast.  Lying  is  stigmatized  as  from  a  bad  heart, 
and  in  judging  of  apparent  acts  of  deception  we  must  re- 
member that  very  often  a  different  standard  of  truth  is 
adopted  in  dealing  with  foreigners,  even  when  people  are 
honest  in  dealing  among  themselves.  Theft  is  summarily 
punished,  and  we  often  leave  articles  about  in  reach  of 
natives  and  nothing  is  lost.  The  difference  between  a  good 
and  a  bad  heart  is  considered  a  radical  one,  and  all  good 
actions  are  no  mere  chance  phenomena  but  due  to  the  good 
heart,  and  vice  versa.  Here  we  see  the  terrible  results  of 
the  slave  trade.  When  the  people  reach  the  coast  they 
have  had  a  shock  sufficient  to  banish  ideas  of  decency,  of 
fidelity,  and  of  all  pelf-respect,  and  may  well  doubt  if  the 
good  heart  exists,  and  cease  to  seek  it.  No  wonder  if 
slaves  are  grossly  sensual  and  sometimes  thieves,  and  lie  to 
them  they  have  no  respect  for.     (Signed) 

W.  P.  Johnson. 

An  All  Saints'  Sister,  now  in  Baltimore,  but 
who  has  been  laboring  for  five  years  in  quite 
another  part  of  Africa,  at  the  Cape,  permits  me  to 
add  that  Avhat  is  stated  above  of  the  natives  of 
Central  Africa,  is  quite  true,  not  only  of  the  Bush- 
men and  Hottentots,  but  also  of  the  many  negroes 
at  the  Cape,  brought  originally  as  slaves  from  the 
interior,  and  that  the  colonists  much  prefer  the 


^irst  ^^crjuaiiitancc,  49 

latter  as  servants  to  such  whites  as  they  are  likely 
to  obtain,  on  account  of  superior  honesty  and 
truthfulness. 

From  the  testimony  of  such  competent  witnesses 
we  must  conclude  either  that  the  x\fricaii  tribes 
are  exceptionally  chaste,  or  what,  alas!  seems  but  too 
probable,  that  unchastity  being  not  a  law,  but  a 
violation  of  nature,  is  a  result  of  civilization  and  a 
lesson  which  the  white  man  lias  taught  the  negro. 

Can  it  be  questioned  that  this  lesson  has  been 
taught  in  the  most  degrading  way  during  the  two 
hundred  years  of  slavery  ?  Dr.  Grummell  draws 
the  picture  in  very  plain  language  and  with  a 
vehemence  which  is  natural  to  an  indignant  cham- 
pion of  the  negro  race. 

After  allowing  that  there  was  a  large  class  of 
good  slaveholders  who,  "like  baronial  lords,  like 
patriarchs  of  old,  like  the  grand  aristocrats  of 
civilized  society,  were  kind,  generous,  humane  " — 
they  were  "noblemen" — he  proceeds  to  describe 
those  who  were  of  a  far  different  character  : 

"  They  herded  their  slaves  together  like  animals. 
They  were  allowed  to  breed  like  cattle.  The  mar- 
riage relation  was  ntterly  disregarded.  All  through 
the  rural  districts,  on  numerous  plantations,  the 
slaves  for  generations  merely  mated  as  beasts. 
They  were  separated  at  convenience,  caprice,  or  at 
the  call  of  interest.  "When  separated  each  took  up 
with  other  men  or  women  as  lust  or  inclination 
prompted.  Masters  and  ministers  of  the  gospel 
taught  their  slaves  not  only  that  there  was  no  sin 
4 


in  such  alliances,  but   that  it  was  their  duty  to 

make    new  alliances The   cases   are 

numerous  where  men,  sold  from  one  plantation  to 
another,  have  had  six  or  eight  living  Avives,  and 
women  as  many  living  husbands.  Nay,  more 
than  this,  I  have  the  testimony  where  one  man 
less  than  fifty  years  old  was  the  father  of  over  sixty 
children ;  of  another  man  who  was  kept  on  a  plan- 
tation with  full  license  as  a  mere  breederof  human 
beings!  ....  But  it  should  be  remembered 
that  these  gross  sins  are  common  us  well  among 
the  whites  of  the  South  as  among  its  black  popu- 
lation. It  filled  them  full  of  lust  as  well  as  their 
victims." 

Eevoltiug  as  this  description  maybe,  we  are  not 
aware  that  these,  and  even  more  distressing  details, 
are  anywhere  denied.  Dr.  Tucker,  in  his  own 
pamphlet,  admits,  indeed  emphasizes,  these  same 
facts.  Every  one  wlio  has  worked  among  the 
freedmen  is  perfectly  familiar  with  this  condition 
of  things.  In  our  own  work  we  have  had  under 
our  pastoral  care  women  who,  in  former  days,  were 
kept  upon  plantations  solely  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  children  for  sale  from  fathers,  both  white 
and  colored,  selected  for  their  valuable  qualities. 
Even  in  the  case  of  good  owners,  it  was,  on  large 
plantations,  the  household  servants  who  chiefly  ex- 
perienced their  kindness  or  profited  by  their  exam- 
ple. The  management  of  the  field  hands  was  neces- 
sarily left  to  subordinates,  and  their  great  numbers 
prevented  their  being  housed  or  treated  like  human 


ifirst  ^rr^waintancc.  51 

beings.     Many  Southerners   sought  to  excuse  to 
themselves  this  system  by  believing  they  were  not 
human  beings.     Learned  professors  wrote  books, 
still  extant,  excluding  them  fi'om  tlie  plan  of  re- 
demption, and  a  lady  of  a  large  Soutliern  city  told 
the  Avriter  she  had  become  unpopular  among  her 
friends  for  expressing  a  belief  that  they  liad  souls. 
The  example  of  the  whites  with  whom  their  inter- 
course was  most  intimate  did  nothing  to  lift  them 
from  their  sins.     From  unimpeachable  testimony 
the  writer  knows  of  bands  of  dissolute  young  men 
who,  taking  advantage  of  the    strict  regulations 
which  forbade,  under  penalty  of  severe  punishment, 
the  free  colored  people  from  being  out  of  their 
houses   after  10  p.m.,  or   from   social  gatherings, 
without  expensive  permits,  would  drag  men  from 
their  homes,  beat  and  bind  them,  and  return  to 
outrage  their  wives  and  daughters.     As  a  colored 
man's  testimony  was  not  received  in  the  courts, 
there  was  no  redress. 

Says  Dr.  Tucker  :  "That  the  white  people  were 
nt  heart  no  better  than  themselves,  they  were  posi- 
tive. Had  they  not  proof  ?  Whence  came  so 
many  mulattoes  ?  "  The  temptation  which  came 
from  the  opportunity  of  being  the  petted  favorite 
of  an  owner  and  escaping  hardship  as  the  price  of 
virtue,  especially  as  the  tempter  who  asked  consent 
had  the  right  to  compel,  was  still  more  demoral- 
izing than  acts  of  violence. 

So  by  the  force  of  example,  by  the  dictates  of 
self-interest,  and  often  by  compulsion,  the  colored 


people,  whether  slaves  or  free,  were  taught  to  dis- 
regard every  principle  of  pnrity.  How  can  chas- 
tity be  looked  for  in  less  than  twenty  years  after 
emancipation,  when  for  two  hundred  years  they 
had  been  trained  to  disregard  it  ? 

With  such  a  training  it  were  not  strange  if 
chastity  we?'e  utterly  unprized  or  even  unknown 
among  a  people  who  are  all  either  freedmen  or 
the  descendants  of  slaves.  But  such  is  not  the 
case.  In  spite  of  past  traditions,  in  spite  of  their 
defective  religious  systems,  and  notwithstanding 
the  prevalent  licentiousness  and  increasing  tend- 
ency to  disregard  the  sanctity  and  indissolubility  of 
marriage  among  Americans,  to  whom  they  should 
look  for  a  better  example,  a  great  number  of 
former  slaves  since  emancipation  have  settled  down 
into  chaste  and  orderly  households. 

If  in  parts  of  the  South  there  are,  as  is  claimed, 
great  numbers  living  together  without  legal  mar- 
riage, so  there  are  other  parts  where  so  to  live  ex- 
cludes the  guilty  from  all  intercourse  with  the 
more  orderly  and  intelligent.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted, indeed,  that  the  great  mass  of  colored 
people  are  far,  very  far  from  prizing  chastity  as 
they  sliould,  yet  there  are  many  young  women  in 
our  own  congregation  whom  we  not  only  could 
point  out  as  virtuous,  but  some  as  modest  and  as 
jDure  in  thought  and  feeling  as  could  be  wished. 
To  reach  this  point  when  surrounded  by  tempta- 
tions unknown  to  those  in  higher  circles  of  society, 
is  surely  a  proof  of  what  grace  can  do  for  them. 


ifirst  Qlcxjuaintance.  53 

and  should  be  a  sufficient  incentive  to  liusten  with 
Christian  love  to  bring.others  to  the  same  condition. 

We  recall  these  things  of  the  past  not  to  revive 
old  issues.  The  institution  of  slavery  has  forever 
passed  awa}',  as  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  the 
better  class  of  Southern  people  as  of  Northern. 
The  former  may  condemn  the  manner  of  emanci- 
pation, and  some  of  its  results;  few,  if  any,  regret 
that  slavery  is  no  more.  Let  it  be  forgotten  and 
forgiven,  a  curse  upon  the  master  no  less  than  upon 
the  slave;  a  curse,  which  if  it  found  its  stronghold 
in  the  South,  Avas  at  first  chiefly  brought  upon  the 
land  by  tlie  North.  But  in  judging  of  the  present 
character  of  the  colored  people,  or  in  forecasting 
their  future,  these  facts  of  the  past  cannot  be 
ignored  without  leading  to  injustice  and  error. 
If,  too,  the  white  man  is  chiefly  responsible  for 
these  evils,  it  should  lead  him  to  pity  rather  than 
censure,  to  hasten  to  remedy  the  evil  they  have 
caused  rather  than  shrink  from  its  results.  What 
selfishness  and  lust  have  wrought,  that  the  grace  of 
God  can  in  His  own  good  time  counteract.  If  it 
lead  any  to  more  earnest  efforts  to  hasten  this 
time,  the  purpose  of  the  writer  will  be  attained. 

It  has  been  hoped,  moreover,  that  the  foregoing 
consideration  of  the  traits  of  the  negro,  as  a  race, 
and  the  comparison  of  him  with  other  types  of 
mankind,  might  somewhat  indicate  the  character 
of  the  laborer  who  will  most  successfully  work  for 
his  good  and  the  spirit  in  which  the  work  must 
be  undertaken. 


54  (Hmtlvc  gears  !^mong  tl)e  Coloreb  |3eopk. 

Tliere  have  been  strong  advocates  of  late  for  in- 
creasing,  at   any   price,    the   number   of    colored 
clergy,  and  many  have  affirmed  tiiat  they  only  can 
effectnall}^  accomplish  the  conversion  of  their  peo- 
ple.    The  necessity  of  colored  clergy  and  laymen 
has  been  strongly  pressed  by  a  recent  conference  of 
colored  clergy  of  our  Church  held  in  New  York. 
Any  suggestions  that  come  from  the  most  intelli- 
gent of  their  own  race,  should  be  heartily  wel- 
comed by  those  who  are  truly  interested  in  them, 
and  demand  respectful  consideration.      The  ob- 
jection that  is  said  to  have  been  made  by  a  bishop 
to  such  a  meeting,  that  the  Church  knew  well 
enough  how  to  conduct  her  work  and  needed  no  sug- 
gestions, is  absurd.     The  proof  of  its  absurdity  is 
the  lamentable  failure  of  the  Church  thus  far  in 
the  work.     Yet  Ave  regret  the  apparent  meaning 
of  the  resolutions  that  none  but  colored  clergy 
should  work  among  colored  people;   a  meaning 
Avhicli   we    have    been    informed   upon    the  best 
authority  it  was  not  intended  they  should  convey. 
In  the  main  they  are  right.     Clergy  of  their  own 
race  can  accomplish  a  Avork  among  them  that  no 
white  man   can   do,  however  AVilling  to  make  all 
requisite   sacrifices.     They  alone   can   enter   into 
the  very  heart's  sanctuary  of  the  negro  and  view 
things  from  his  standpoint.     They  are  free  from 
suspicions   Avith    Avhich    a    great   number   of  the 
colored  people  continue  to  view  the  most  devoted 
of  their  white  friends. 

But  the  clergy  of  their  OAvn  race  must  come 


iFirst  Qlcr|uaintance.  55 

from  the  very  best  and  most  favored  of  their 
people,  and  be  fully  equipped  to  bear  favorable 
comparison  with  their  white  brethren.  I^o  in- 
ferior article  will  pass.  An  unfortunate  but 
general  disposition  to  disparage  those  of  their 
own  race  makes  it  difficult  under  the  most  favora- 
ble circumstances  for  colored  clergy  to  gain  the 
respect  of  their  people.  If  the  colored  clergy  are 
treated  as  inferiors  by  their  white  brethren,  or  if 
there  be  any  recognized  difference  of  intellectual 
requirements,  or  any  ecclesiastical  disabilities  by 
which  they  are  distinguished  from  them,  their 
failure  is  certain. 

No  doubt  the  permanent  diaconate  after  the 
primitive  model  might  be  usefully  revived  irre- 
sijective  of  color.  It  might  be  a  distinct  Order 
with  a  confessedly  lower  grade  of  scholarship. 
Catechists,  teachers,  and  lay-readers  may  all  be 
useful  among  the  colored  people,  as  they  may 
among  any  people.  But  any  "  class  legislation" 
lowering  the  standard  of  the  priesthood  on  the 
*' color  line"  will  certainly  prove  fatal  to  the 
Church's  growth  among  them. 

Such  legislation  is,  moreover,  wholly  unneces- 
sary. There  are  many  intelligent,  sensible,  well- 
mannered  young  colored  men  who  would  require 
no  dispensation  from  literary  qualifications.  They 
need  only  to  be  sought  out  by  the  Church,  assured 
of  support  and  of  brotherly  sympathy,  and  properly 
trained  and  educated.  Their  education  will  take 
time.     Better  hasten  slowly  than  repent  at  leisure. 


56  StDelue  ^caxs  ^mong  tl)e  Coloreb  IJco^ilc. 

In  the  mean  time  white  clergy  must  do  much  of 
the  work.  For  many  reasons  it  is  best  they  should 
be  engaged  in  the  work  for  many  years  to  come, 
even  if  there  were  as  many  well  educated  colored 
clergy  as  could  be  wished.  There  are  traits  of 
character  and  results  of  civilization  which  can 
thus  best  be  imparted  from  the  dominant  to  the 
advancing  race.  Thus  too,  will  the  bond  of  fel- 
lowship be  best  maintained  between  the  two  races 
and  mutual  suspicions  allayed. 

White  clergy,  to  be  of  any  use  among  them,  must 
be  liberal  minded,  large  hearted,  sympathetic  men. 
They  must  not  regard  them  solely  from  an  Angli- 
can standpoint,  and  not  be  blind  to  their  virtues  and 
amiable  traits.  They  must  be  ready  to  become  as 
a  negro  to  the  negroes  if  they  would  win  the  negro, 
as  fully  as  St.  Paul  became  as  a  Jew  to  the  Jews 
or  as  a  Gentile  to  the  Gentiles.  They  must  be 
moved  as  little  by  bitter  taunt  and  prejudice  as  was 
our  Lord  by  the  Avords  "  This  man  receiveth  sin- 
ners and  eateth  with  them."  The  missionary  does 
not  hesitate  to  live  on  most  familiar  terms  with 
Chinese,  Hottentot,  or  Esquimaux.  The  explorer 
for  mere  scientific  purposes  will  do  the  same.  The 
true  friend  of  the  spread  of  the  gospel  will  learn 
to  dissociate  such  intercourse  from  that  which  is 
for  merely  political  demagogical  purposes.  The 
writer  does  not  blush  to  own  that  he  has  laughed 
in  their  Joys  and  wept  in  their  sorrows,  eaten  with 
them,  slept  with  them,  been  their  guest  and  enter- 
tained them,  known  them  as  dear  friends  and  com- 


i^ivst  "^^criunintanrc.  57 

panions.  He  vho  is  their  spiritnul  fiitlier,  and 
fears  in  so  doing  '"to  lose  his  social  position,"  has 
no  ** social  position"  worth  guarding.  Yet  the 
writer  does  not  deny  that  in  the  earlier  years  of 
his  work  he  sometimes  Avinced  under  taunt  and 
scorn,  and  that  he  keenly  felt  some  dear  friends' 
dislike  to  be  seen  with  one  who  had  been  on  the 
street  in  the  comi^any  of  his  colored  parishioners.  A 
wounded  soldier  may  tear  the  poisoned  barb  from 
the  quivering  flesh  lest  it  impede  him  in  battle,  but 
it  is  not  without  anguish.  But  it  is  to  be  acknowl- 
edged with  devout  gratitude  to  God  that  in  the 
last  ten  years  a  marked  change  in  sentiment  has 
taken  place.  Some  who  once  looked  with  suspicion 
on  the  work  now  fearlessly  aid  and  defend  it. 
Some  of  the  most  ardent  Southerners  championed 
it  from  the  start.  Notably  did  one  of  Maryland's 
noblest  laymen,  now  called  to  rest,  wiio  languished 
in  a  Northern  fortress  for  his  principles  during  the 
war,  but  never  wavered  in  his  confidence  in  the 
clergy  who  directed  the  work  at  S.  Mary's,  nor 
failed  in  finding  an  excuse  for  their  mistakes. 

It  is  likely  that  clergy  who  will  be  ready  to  go 
forth  in  this  spirit  to  labor  among  the  colored  peo- 
ple will  be  largely  drawn  from  the  higher  ranks  of 
society.  Such  men,  it  is  said,  show  most  endurance 
in  military  life — they  are  certainly  not  least  likely 
to  "endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ."  They  are  also  least  sensitive  about  "en- 
dangering their  social  position."  It  is  at  all  events 
absolutely  necessary  that  they  should  have  acquired 


58  (JltDcInc  ^ears  ^tnong  l\)e  Coloreb  IJeogle. 

refinement  and  the  marks  of  good  breeding,  if  not 
"  to  the  manner  born."  Few  so  quickly  detect  the 
gentleman  as  the  Southern  negro.  They  respect 
*' quality,"  but  "have  no  use  fur  po'  white  trash." 
Persons  of  refinement  can  most  freely  mingle  with 
them  without  losing  their  respect,  or  without  ex- 
hibiting the  condescension  which  they  resent.  At 
an  after-dinner  speech  at  an  anniversary  of  that 
admirable  institution,  the  Missionary  Theological 
College  at  Dorchester,  England,  a  gentleman  of 
long  experience  in  Central  Africa  spoke  of  this 
same  instinctive  recognition  of  a  gentleman  as  a 
trait  o£  the  natives,  who  in  their  own  language  dis- 
tinguished between  "  gentlemen  "  and  "  gentlemen 
gentlemen."  "There  is  doubtless," he  said, "work 
for  all  in  the  ministr}^  but  send  only  the  sons  of 
gentlemen  to  Africa." 

It  was  the  need  of  men  of  refinement  and  intel- 
ligence who  would  go  forth  in  the  spirit  Ave  have 
indicated  that  was  felt  by  that  noble  martyr  of  our 
communion.  Bishop  Patterson,  in  his  work  among 
a  kindred  race,  the  blacks  of  the  Melanesian  Isles. 

"It  was  never  the  way,"  says  his  admirable 
biographer,  ''  where  Mr.  Patterson  reigned,  to 
have  one  sort  of  work  for  the  white  and  another 
for  the  black.  Black  people  are  no  worse  than 
white,  and  it  was  contrary  to  the  main  idea  of  the 
mission  that  a  white  man,  because  he  was  white, 
should  have  a  right  to  make  a  black  man  work  be- 
cause he  was  black."  "In  truth,  what  he  did 
want,  were  men  equal  to  himself,  and  he  was  the 


iFirst  ^cffuaintancc.  59 

only  man  who  did  not  know  that  such  men  are 
rare.  He  would  not  have  any  one  who  would  de- 
spise the  natives,  and  wisli  to  make  Enf^lishmen 
of  them.  God  did  not  make  all  the  world  Eng- 
lish, and  what  these  natives  were  intended  to  be 
was  a  something  very  different  from  Englishmen. 
They  must  lead  a  godly  and  a  Christian  life,  but 
he  wished  to  teach  them  to  do  this  by  making 
them  see  for  themselves  what  was  wrong  in  their 
own  customs,  and  leave  it  off  for  that  reason,  not 
merely  copy  Avhat  their  teachers  did." 

These  principles,  upon  which  the  Church  in  the 
South  Sea  Islands  Avas  successfully  built,  are  those 
npon  which  I'est  the  conversion  of  the  colored  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  III. 

s.  mart's  chapel  and  its  services. 

The  proi^erty  Avhieh  was  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  clergy  of  Mount  Calvary  Church  was  an 
edifice  built  for  the  use  of  a  small  congregation 
of  Swedenborgians.  It  was  of  white  Baltimore 
limestone  (an  inferior  kind  of  marble,  easily 
worked,  and  effective  in  appearance).  The  build- 
ing was  two  stories,  the  lower,  with  floor  a  little  be- 
low the  street  line,  had  been  used  as  a  boys'  school- 
room, the  upper  as  a  room  for  services  and  worship. 
It  was  about  fifty  feet  long  and  forty  feet  broad, 
outside  measurements.  Soon  after  we  had  begun 
to  use  it,  a  porch  was  added  in  front,  in  which  was 
placed  a  double  staircase  leading  to  the  upper  floor. 
The  design  of  this  addition,  while  in  keeping  with 
the  rest  of  the  building,  relieved  the  front  on 
Orchard  Street.  By  it,  very  considerable  addition 
was  made  to  the  seating  capacity  of  the  chapel. 

In  1878,  it  was  found  that  the  Avork  required  an 
enlargement  of  the  building.  The  generous  giver 
of  the  chapel  assured  the  clergy  that  the  houses 
and  land  in  the  rear,  fronting  fifty-five  feet  on  S. 
Mary's  Street,  would  be  given  whenever  the  time 
came  that  an  addition  could  be  made  without  in- 
curring debt.     To  this  end,  by  the  help  of  those 


0.  illarg's  Cljapd  anb  its  Qcxvkcs.      61 

interested  in  this  work,  and  in  answer  to  personal 
appeals  among  the  clergy  of  the  church  about  ten 
thousand  dollars  Avas  raised  by  the  priest  in  charge 
of  the  work.  The  property  was  conveyed  to  the 
Diocese  of  Maryland  in  trust.  The  dwellings  on 
S.  Mary's  Street  were  removed,  and  on  Sunda}^, 
September  7,  1879,  the  corner  stone  of  the  addi- 
tion was  laid  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Rich,  Dean  of  tlie 
Convocation  of  Baltimore,  in  tlie  presence  of  a  large 
congregation  of  clergy  and  people.  Tlie  addition 
was  about  seventy  feet  long  by  fifty-five  feet  wide, 
and  is  so  constructed  that  it  furnishes  transepts 
and  chancel,  while  the  older  portion  is  the  nave  of 
a  church  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  long. 
By  the  side  of  the  chancel  is  a  porch  with  stairs 
leading  to  S.  Mary's  Street,  a  choir  room,  about 
sixteen  feet  square,  an  organ  room  and  priests' 
vesting  room.  The  architectural  treatment  of  the 
old  portion  made  it  possible  for  the  accomplished 
and  attentive  architects,  Messrs.  "Wyatt  &  Sperry, 
to  make  the  new  part,  while  agreeing  with  that  to 
which  they  were  adding  in  general  design,  in  detail 
much  more  impressive,  and,  while  not  carrying 
the  new  Avails  to  any  greater  height  than  the  old, 
by  breaking  the  roof  at  the  transepts,  they  prevented 
the  long  low  look  which  must  otherwise  have  been, 
but  Avliich  now  appears  of  such  liberal  proportions 
as  almost  to  make  the  observer  forget  Avhat  the 
real  size  is.  The  chancel  is  about  twenty-five  feet 
wide  by  twenty-eight  deep.  The  need  of  a  passage 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  behind  the  altar,  made 


G2  dLmelne  ^ears  !!Atnong  t\]C  (Kolorcb  |)eoplc. 

it  necessary  to  put  up  a  partition  which  is  con- 
tinued as  a  screen  in  front  of  the  east  wiudow,  and 
serves  as  a  reredos.  The  light  coming  out  from 
either  side  at  times  presents  a  halo-like  appearance, 
a  fit  accompaniment  of  the  Presence  on  the  altar 
below. 

The  chancel  arch  of  brick,  supported  on  two 
polished  Aberdeen  granite  columns,  was  erected  by 
the  Sunday  School,  and  by  friends  of  the  Eev. 
Harrison  H.  Webb,  the  second  colored  clergyman 
in  Baltimore,  as  a  memorial  of  him,  and  of  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Ivichey,  Rector  of  Mount  Calvary  Cliurch 
at  the  time  that  the  clergy  there  undertook  this 
work. 

The  choir  rails  of  solid  oak  break  on  one  side 
into  a  rounding  pulpit.  These  were  the  gift  of  two 
ladies  in  memory  of  a  faithful  nurse,  whose  lov- 
ing care  in  their  childhood  is  thus  recalled.  The 
choir  stalls  were  given  by  the  members  of  the  choir 
and  by  the  guild.  The  floor  of  the  choir  was  laid 
in  wood  by  the  members  of  the  Sinking  Fund 
Association.  The  altar-rail  was  the  gift  of  two 
officers  of  the  army  stationed  at  the  fort,  who  took 
great  interest  in  S.  Mary's.  The  altar,  which  had 
been  built  by  the  priest  in  charge,  assisted  by  the 
young  men  of  the  congregation,  does  service  until 
a  permanent  one  is  provided  to  take  its  place. 

The  work  went  on  with  the  usual  interruptions. 
No  secure  foundation  for  tower  and  chancel  could 
be  found  until  a  depth  of  sixteen  feet  had  been 
reached.     Other  hinderances  occurred,  and  it  was 


0.  iilani's  (!ri)a|iel  arib  its  StTuiccs.        63 

not  until  the  Feast  of  the  Purification  of  the  B.  V. 
M.,  Feb.  2(\,  1880,  tliat  the  services  were  first  held 
in  the  new  part,  and  then  the  Avails  were  but  freshly 
covered  with  nndried  mortar,  and  it  was  with 
danger  to  health  that  any  could  sit  in  the  new 
part  of  the  clnirch.  Still  no  ill  effects  followed, 
and  from  that  day  on  it  has  been  shown  that  the 
church  was  none  too  large  for  the  people  who 
ought  to  be  gathered  in. 

The  finishing  of  the  church  was  left  until  all 
the  cost  of  the  erection  of  the  new  part  was  paid. 
As  this  is  gradually  in  process  of  accomplishment, 
at  divers  times  steps  have  been  taken  for  needed 
articles.  The  last  was  the  seating  of  the  church 
with  permanent  benches,  the  offerings  of  individ- 
uals and  families. 

So  far  God  has  blessed  us.  There  is  much  yet 
to  be  done.  The  basement,  the  front  of  which  is 
the  Vinton  Chantry,  used  for  most  of  the  services 
except  those  of  Sunday,  is  still  unfinished,  al- 
though used  as  a  school  by  the  sisters.  And  mor- 
tar and  paint  are  called  for  to  make  more  comfort- 
able and  to  keep  in  repair  that  already  erected. 
We  may  not  be  in  debt,  and  we  must  go  on. 

The  above  description  of  the  building  is  kindly 
contributed  by  Mr.  Paine,  whose  indefatigable  at- 
tention in  superintending  the  building  of  the  ad- 
dition has  made  him  more  familiar  than  the  priest 
in  charge  with  the  dimensions  and  other  architect- 
tural  details  of  the  building. 

The  description  would  suffice  were  there  not  in 


the  chancel  some  articles  of  no  great  intrinsic 
value  but  prized  for  their  quaintness  and  their  as- 
sociations. Their  enumeration  will  be  pardoned  by 
the  casual  reader  for  the  sake  of  those  who  are  moro 
personally  interested.  On  the  altar  shelves,  or  re- 
tables,  are  the  cross  given  by  Dr.  Muhan,  and  six 
candlesticks  engraved  Avith  the  names  of  those  in 
whose  memory  they  were  given,  Rev.  0.  P.  Vinton, 
James  D.  W.  Perry,  and  H.  B.  J.  On  festivals, 
vases  of  flowers  and  branched  candelabra  are 
added.  The  panels  of  the  altar  are  decorated  with 
curious  paintings  of  the  Crucifixion,  the  Annun- 
ciation and  the  Magi.  The  latter  are  oddly  enough 
represented  upon  horses.  The  panels  were  painted 
for  the  altar  by  Monks  of  the  Eastern  Church  in 
Jerusalem.  They  are  in  tlie  peculiar  Oriental 
style,  brilliant  in  gold  and  with  stiff  conventional 
figures.  They  were  the  gift  of  Mr.  David  Jamal, 
a  brother  of  the  Rev.  Chaleel  Jamal,  a  Syrian  priest 
of  the  English  Church.  Mr.  Jamal  visited  the 
clergy  in  Baltimore,  and  made  an  interesting  ad- 
dress at  S.  Mary's.  The  "  Yankee  curiosity  "  dis- 
played during  his  visit  is  probably  remembered  by 
Mr.  Jamal,  and  will  certainly  not  be  soon  forgotten 
by  his  traveling  companion  on  a  trip  made  during 
his  visit  to  Mount  Vernon.  Dressed  in  his  native 
costume,  Mr.  Jamal  had  not  only  the  usual  escort 
of  "ragamuffins"  in  tlie  streets  and  circle  of  in- 
quisitors on  the  steamer,  but  the  climax  was 
reached  on  the  grounds.  Left  a  moment  alone 
before  the  door  of  the  dining  hall  while  his  com- 


0.  Yarn's  ([Tlirtpcl  arib  its  Scrtnces.      65 

pauiou  secured  seats,  he  was  found  opposite  to  an 
**  American,"  such  as  is  seen  represented  on  the 
stage  and  portrayed  in  the  pages  of  English  novels, 
but  the  only  living  specimen  we  ever  remember  to 
have  met.  He  was  a  true  "  Brother  Jonathan  "  of 
the  Western  type,  with  striped  vest  and  baggy, 
short-legged  pantaloons.  An  enormous  straw  hat 
shaded  his  brown  face  and  shaggy  brows.  He  held 
a  huge  stick  extending  backAvard  under  one  arm, 
while  tlie  end  in  front  of  him  he  energetically 
whittled  witli  a  jack-knife  that  might  have  served 
a  butcher.  As  he  rolled  a  "cud"  about  in  his  ca- 
pacious cheek  witli  a  movement  of  jaws  like  a  con- 
templative cow,  his  calm  gaze  was  steadfastly  fixed 
on  the  amazed  Syi'ian.  As  we  approached,  the 
spell  Avas  broken,  the  huge  lips  parted,  and  delib- 
erately out  rolled  the  words,  "Stranger,  be  you 
Injun?"  We  confess  it  was  with  relief  we  took 
the  return  steamer,  but  our  woes  were  not  ended. 
Among  the  crowd  who  again  gathered  around  our 
friend,  one  was  suddenly  struck  by  a  "happy 
thought."  From  the  depths  of  his  pocket  he  pro- 
duced autograph  book  and  pencil.  It  was  the  sig- 
nal for  a  hundred  hands  to  dive  into  as  many  pock- 
ets. In  a  moment  we  grasped  the  situation.  Our 
turn  had  come  to  be  the  Yankee.  We  rose,  hat  in 
hand.  "  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  Syrian  gentle- 
man is  my  guest  and  friend.  He  is. not  on  exhibi- 
tion, yet  all  day  he  patiently  and  with  a  gentle- 
manly forbearance  Avhich  puts  us  to  shame  has 
satisfied  curiosity.  Now  you  are  about  to  tax  him 
5 


66  ^roeloe  ^eaxs  ^^ittong  i\)e  Coloreb  JJeople. 

further  by  asking  for  innumerable  autographs  in 
Syriac.  I  know  he  is  incapable  of  refusing  you. 
To-morrow  night  he  addresses  my  colored  congre- 
gation, and  we  take  up  a  collection  for  his  brother, 
a  Christian  missionary  in  Jerusalem.  I  hope  no 
one  will  ask  for  his  autograph  Avho  does  not,  as  he 
approaches,  drop  a  quarter  in  my  hat  to  be  added  to 
that  oflPertory."  The  experiment  was  not  as  great 
a  damper  on  autograph  hunting  as  we  had  expected, 
but  it  added  about  $8.00  to  the  offertory.  In  spite 
of  American  curiosity,  Mr.  Jamal  expressed  much 
pleasure  in  his  visit, and  on  his  return  sent  us  these 
illuminated  panels. 

The  marble  altar  steps  bear  the  inscription  : 

f  Ecce  Agnus  stabat  supra  montem.  f 

f  Agnus  Dei,  qui  tollis  peccata  mundi,  miserere 

nobis,  f 

f  In  Memoriam  Kebeccae  "Webb  f  Kequiescat  in 

Pace,  f 

Mrs.  Webb,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Harrison  Webb, 
was  one  of  the  most  earnest  of  the  communicants 
who  came  from  S.  Philip's  to  S.  Mary's.  She  lived 
many  years  in  the  family  of  the  lady  who  gave  us 
our  church  property,  and  her  faithfulness  increased 
her  mistress'  interest  in  her  people.  The  only 
other  objects  to  be  specially  noted  in  the  sanctuary, 
are  two  stools  skillfully  and  tastefully  carved  from 
solid  blocks  of  wood.  They  are  the  work  of  native 
Africans  of  the  Gold  Coast.  Seen  with  several 
similar  specimens  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition  of 


0.  illors's  Cliapcl  anb  its  Scrmces.      67 

1876  in  the  English  Colonial  exhibit,  they  were 
supposed  to  be  for  sale.  On  inquiring,  it  was  found 
that  they  were  to  be  sent  to  the  Kensington  Mu- 
seum, but  the  Colonel  in  Her  Majesty's  service,  who 
was  one  of  the  British  commissioners,  with  great 
courtesy  and  kindly  interest  in  the  Avork,  promised 
to  do  all  he  could  to  secure  a  pair  for  S.  Mary's. 

Some  months  after  the  close  of  the  exhibition 
they  arrived  from  England  with  impressive  docu- 
ments of  presentation,  officially  signed  and  sealed. 
To  the  delight  of  S.  Mary's  congregation  the  daily 
papers  announced  that  Queen  V^ictoria  had  pre- 
sented Acolyte  seats  to  the  chapel.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  publishing  of  this  will  not  cause  Her  Majesty 
any  inconvenience  from  the  "  Church  Association.'* 

On  the  oaken  choir  rail,  a  legend  is  carved  re- 
ferring to  all  to  whom  memorials  are  placed  in  the 
sanctuary  :  "  Grant  unto  them,  0  Lord,  Eternal 
Eest,  and  let  Light  Perpetual  shine  upon  them." 
At  the  ends  of  this  rail  are  the  polished  stone  col- 
nmns  which  support  the  chancel  arch. 

On  the  sandstone  base  of  one  of  these  memorial 
columns  is  the  inscription  :  f  In  memory  of  Joseph 
Richey,  Priest,  f  Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make 
a  Pillar  in  the  Temple  of  my  God. 

On  the  column  on  the  other  side  are  the  words  : 
f  In  Memory  of  Harrison  H.  Webb,  Priest,  f  Be 
thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a 
crown  of  Life,  f 

Mr,  Richey  is  already  known  to  the  reader. 
Mr.  Webb    was    for    many   years    the   Rector   of 


68  StDcbe  fears  ^ittong  tlje  Colorcir  |)eopU. 

S.  James'  Church,  Baltimore.  When  old  age  had 
withdrawn  him  from  active  labor  he  became  a  de- 
voted attendant  of  the  services  of  S.  Mary's.  He 
often  assisted  in  the  service,  and  occasionally 
preached.     He  was  buried  from  S,  Mary's. 

As  the  oldestof  our  male  communicants,  to  whom 
reference  has  been  made  in  a  previous  chapter, 
stood  admiringly  before  this  really  fine  arch  and  its 
two  solid  pillars,  he  exclaimed :  "  Little  did  I  ever 
expect  to  see  two  beautiful  columns  rising,  one  in 
honor  of  a  white  priest,  the  other  of  a  black  priest, 
joined  in  an  arch,  symbolizing  unity,  and  pointing 
tow&rd  Heaven."  In  front  of  the  choir  rail  is  a 
lectern  of  oak,  its  design  an  eagle  standing  on  an 
Egyptian  column.  It  bears  above  the  capital  of 
the  column  the  inscription  :  f  In  Memory  of  Oliver 
Perry  Vinton,  Priest,  f  and  on  the  face  of  the 
pyramidal  base,  f  Some  time  Priest  of  this  Church. 
Entered  into  Eest  June  XV,  MDCCCLXXX. 
Whose  soul  GOD  rest  and  grant  a  joyful  rising  in 
CHRIST  JESUS.  Amen.  The  lectern  was  the 
gift  of  Mr.  Vinton's  brother,  Arthur  Dudley  Vin- 
ton, Esq.  Upon  the  lectern  is  a  handsome  Bible, 
one  of  many  gifts  to  S.  Mary's  of  the  Rev.  H.  G. 
Batterson,  D.D. 

Seven  lamps  hang  in  the  chancel  arch.  The 
large  central  one  was  the  gift  of  an  ever  generous 
friend,  Mr.  Lyman  Klapp  ;  three  were  given  by 
S.  Clement's,  Philadelphia,  and  the  remaining  two, 
recently  added,  were  left  as  a  legacy — in  addition 
to  150  for  the  Home — by  a  devoted  communicant  of 


0.  iltars's  Cliapcl  onb  its  Qcmces.       69 

S.  Mary's  who  lias  lately  been  laid  to  rest.  Miss 
Kosa  Sythe.  Her  sister  Lizzie,  a  no  less  lovely 
character,  dying  the  year  before,  left  a  similar  leg- 
acy, $50  for  the  Home,  and  $50  with  which  the 
chapel  was  provided  Avith  a  silver  chalice. 

Tiie  basement  is  divided  into  three  rooms  by 
glass  folding  doors.  The  two  parts  nnder  the  nave 
and  transept  are  used  for  the  day  schools  and  Sun- 
day schools,  as  Avell  as  for  evening  entertainments, 
guild  and  society  meetings,  and  the  like.  In  one 
of  these  rooms  is  the  Sunday-school  library,  in  a 
neat  black  walnut  case,  the  gift  of  Mr.  Robert 
Garrett. 

The  portion  of  the  basement  under  the  chancel 
is  the  Vinton  Memorial  Chantry.  Here  week-day 
services  are  held,  thus  saving  much  expense  in  light 
and  fuel.  The  Chantry  is  quite  unfinished  except 
the  altar  and  its  baldachino.  During  the  com- 
pletion of  the  altar,  the  Rev.  H.  B.  Smythe,  who 
had  aided  in  designing  it,  went  to  his  father's 
home  in  Michigan  for  a  few  w^eeks'  vacation.  A 
few  days  later  came  tidings  of  his  death.  His  name 
was  therefore,  in  loving  memory,  inscribed  on  the 
base  of  the  altar. 

The  decorated  canopy  above,  resting  on  Egyptian 
columns,  bears  the  inscription  : 

f  This  Chantry  is  dedicated  to  the  Glory  of  God, 
and  in  Memory  of  Oliver  Perry  Vinton,  Priest,  by 
S.  Mary's  Congregation  and  Sunday-School,  f 

and  on  the  space  below  follows  a  prayer  adapted 


from  the  ^'Gebetbncli "  of  the  Christian  Catholic 
Church  of  Switzerhind,  as  given  in  the  General 
Convention  Journal  of  1880. 

Look,  0  Lord,  upon  Tliy  Son  Whom  we  present 
before  Thee,  our  pure,  holy,  and  immacnlate  Sacri- 
fice: For  His  faithfulness'  sake  grant  unto  him  and 
unto  all  who  sleep  in  Clirist  a  Place  of  Refreshment, 
of  Life  and  of  Peace. 

The  Lectern  in  the  Chantry  is  a  portion  of  the 
reading-desk  of  the  old  S.  Paul's  Church,  afterward 
used  at  S.  Philip's.  On  it  is  the  family  Bible  of 
G-en.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside,  a  dear  friend  of  the 
priest  in  charge  and  a  generous  supporter  of  kis 
work  at  S.  Mary's.  The  book  Avas  the  gift  of  Mr. 
W.  T.  C.  Ward  well,  a  fellow  townsman  of  both  the 
general  and  the  writer. 

This  completes  the  list  of  memorials  in  the 
building,  excepting  three  stained  glass  windows  in 
the  church.  One  contains  a  suitable  inscription  to 
Sister  Harriet  of  All  Saints,  the  Sister  Superior 
when  the  colored  sisterhood  was  inaugurated.  It 
was  a  well-deserved  tribute  of  affection  from  the 
congregation.  Another  window  is  a  pretty  memo- 
rial to  two  infant  children  of  a  lady  friend  of  the 
work.  The  third  is  in  memory  of  Mrs.  C.  M.  C. 
Mason.  The  harp  iji  one  of  the  panels  recalls  her 
services  to  S.  Mary's,  and  the  scene  of  the  conversion 
of  the  Ethiopian  by  S.  Philip  her  connection  with 
the  earlier  mission.  Another  window  is  about  to 
be  added  in  memory  of  Sister  Mary  Clement,  and 
a  fourth  to  Emma  Piper,  the  daughter  of  one  of 


0.  illar^'s  (il)apcl  arib  its  Sermces.      71 

the   Business   Committee,    a  gentle   and    devout 
child,  who  looked  forward  to  being  a  Sister. 

The  seats  wliich  have  been  mentioned  as  the  last 
addition  to  the  church,  are  ''free  and  unappro- 
priated"— a  condition  of  holding  the  property. 
Connected  with  the  free  sittings  of  the  two 
churches.  Mount  Calvary  and  S.  Mary's,  is  a  little 
episode  of  our  work  worthy  of  record.  It  was  once 
the  custom  for  the  few  colored  communicants  of 
the  former  church  to  sit  in  two  or  three  of  the  rear 
pews.  After  Mr.  Richey's  invitation  to  the  col- 
ored people  to  freely  attend  the  services,  and  before 
S.  Mary's  was  provided  for  them,  a  considerable 
number  of  colored  people  came,  and  ignorant  of 
any  regulation  on  the  subject,  sat  wherever  there 
chanced  to  be  a  vacant  seat.  A  collision  with 
some  of  the  Avhite  congregation  followed.  The 
fact  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  clergy.  On 
each  pew  of  Mount  Calvary  a  printed  notice  de- 
clared the  seats  "  free  to  all."  The  clergy  called  a 
Vestry  meeting.  Nowhere  could  have  been  gath- 
ered a  group  more  thoroughly  representative  of 
Southern  sentiment.  In  tl)e  honest  and  manly 
tone  peculiar  to  him,  Mr.  Eichey  told  the  Vestry 
that  as  the  clergy  did  not  wish  to  remain  to  the 
detriment  of  the  parish,  they  oflFered  their  resigna- 
tions; that  if  they  were  to  remain  they  could  not 
consent  to  there  "  being  a  lie  on  every  pew."  If 
the  colored  people  were  excluded  from  free  sittings 
it  should  be  distinctly  stated.  He  reminded  them 
that  as  he  was  and  ever  had  been  in  thorough  sym- 


pathy  with  the  South,  this  to  him  was  not  a  ques- 
tion of  politics. 

Probably  never  before  in  Maryland  had  the  ques- 
tion been  directly  confronted.  For  a  moment  there 
Avas  silence,  which  at  length  was  broken  by  one  of 
the  deservedly  most  influential  and  honored  among 
the  Vestry.  He  referred  to  the  attachment  to  the 
Southern  cause  of  his  uncle,  who  was  long  impris- 
oned in  Fortress  Monroe.  Yet  that  uncle,  he  said, 
who  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  would  never  accept 
the  privilege  granted  his  age  and  station  of  making 
his  confession  at  the  priest's  house,  for  to  kneel 
in  the  line  before  the  confessional  with  colored 
people  or  the  poorest  beggars  he  considered  a  part 
of  his  Catholic  practice.  "  Often,"  added  the  neph- 
ew, "I  have  felt  inclined  to  wait  to  commune 
at  Mount  Calvary  Avith  the  colored  people  as  a 
proof  of  my  own  disapproval  of  any  distinction 
in  God's  house."  Meanwhile  another  equally  in- 
fluential member  of  the  Vestry — a  distinguished 
member  of  the  Maryland  bar — sat  thoughtfully 
pulling  his  black  mustache.  Looking  up  suddenly, 
with  the  serious  earnestness  that  often  flashes  from 
his  dark  eye,  he  exclaimed,  "Gentlemen,  let  our 
religion  be  before  our  politics ;  for  one  I  vote  that  no 
distinction  be  made  in  the  seating  of  the  church." 
Without  a  dissenting  voice  the  principle  was  estab- 
lished; their  strong  and  Catholic  convictions  pre- 
vailed. 

No  serious  trouble  resulted  from  the  decision. 
The  little  irritation  shown  on  the  part  of  some 


0.  iilorn's  €l)apel  arib  its  Seroices.      73 

came  chiefly  from  those  wlio  had  not  been  identified 
with  the  Southern  cause.  Since  S^  Mary's  has 
opened,  the  colored  people  have  preferred  to  attend 
services  in  their  own  chapel,  but  when  on  special 
occasions,  or  at  celebrations  of  the  Holy  Commun- 
ion at  hours  that  make  it  more  convenient,  a  few 
are  present  at  the  services  of  the  parish  church, 
there  is  seldom,  we  believe,  cause  to  complain  of 
their  reception.  Bishop  Whittingham  had,  indeed, 
only  consented  to  the  establishment  of  S.  Mary's 
ou  the  understanding  that  the  colored  people  were 
a  part  of  Mount  Calvary  congregation,  worshiping 
sejoarately  only  for  convenience  sake.  For  this 
reason,  he  requested  we  should  have  a  daily  celebra- 
tion only  at  Mount  Calvary,  as  it  could  serve  for 
both.  He  also  suggested,  on  the  same  ground, 
such  shortened  services  at  S.  Mary's  as  would  be 
best  adapted  to  the  congregation,  since  the  full 
services  were  said  daily  in  the  parish  at  Mount 
Calvary. 

Then  folloAved  the  more  amusing  side  of  the 
story.  Mr.  Eichey  had  cautioned  the  white  people 
against  crowding  out  the  colored  people  at  the 
opening  services  of  S.  Mary's.  The  same  veteran 
colored  communicant,  to  whom  we  have  more  than 
once  referred,  came  to  the  priest  in  charge  seriously 
troubled  because  he  had  heard  tliat  Avhite  people 
were  to  be  discriminated  against  at  S.  Mary's.  He 
expected  to  bring  with  him  to  the  first  service  a 
white  friend  with  Avhom  he  wished  the  privilege  of 
sitting,  and  he  hoped  in  S.  Mary's  "  there  would  be 


74  (ITtDebe  ^ears  !^mong  tlie  Colored  |)eo|jle. 

no  discrimination  as  to  color."  This  was  told  with 
great  glee  to  the  Mount  Calvary  Vestry,  and  yet 
subsequent  events  proved  the  old  man's  fears  not 
wholly  groundless,  for  it  was  often  amusing  in  the 
first  days  of  S.  Mary's  to  be  summoned  just  before 
vesting  for  the  service,  by  some  lady  who  had  rolled 
up  to  the  door  in  her  carriage,  and  wished  to  be 
told  where  the  Avhite  people  were  to  sit.  The  in- 
formation that,  like  the  colored  people,  they  were  at 
perfect  liberty  to  occupy  any  vacant  seat,  did  not 
always  seem  to  be  received  as  a  privilege.  White 
people  have  shown  annoyance  when  colored  people, 
in  their  own  chapel,  have  taken  seats  next  them, 
and  taking  no  pains  to  conceal  their  displeasure, 
have  changed  their  seats.  This,  however,  is  excep- 
tional. Many  white  people  come  freely  to  the  ser- 
vices, and  show  a  hearty,  fraternal  sympathy. 
Some  white  people  attend  and  commune  at  S. 
Mary's  altogether.  It  must  be  confessed,  however, 
that  at  night  services,  Avhen  the  largest  number  of 
white  people,  and  often  wealthy  ones,  have  been 
present — it  has  been  observed  the  offertories  are 
smallest. 

Among  the  conditions  upon  which  the  property 
was  given  was  the  requirement  that  the  church 
should  be  maintained  exclusively  by  voluntary  offer- 
ings, witliout  the  aid  of  fairs  or  festivals  of  a)iy 
kind.  No  debt  was  to  be  incurred,  and  daily  ser- 
vices were  to  be  maintained.  These  conditions  have 
been  conscientiously  kept.  About  ninety  dollars  a 
month  is  received  through  the  offertory  for  current 


0.  iHarn's  Cflljajjel  onb  its  Scrmccs.      75 

expenses.  Including  special  collections  for  mis- 
sionary and  other  purposes,  the  offertory  averages 
annually  about  one  thousand  three  hundred  dol- 
lars. The  priest  in  charge  receives  only  his  salary 
as  Associate  Hector  from  Mount  Calvary  Church, 
but  S.  Mary's  congregation  contributes  four  hun- 
dred dollars  of  the  salary  of  the  assistant.  As  the 
best  means  of  educating  the  people  to  systematic 
giving,  a  modified  form  of  the  envelope  system  is 
adopted.  Each  attendant  of  the  services  is  asked 
to  give  monthly  a  specified  sum,  to  be  placed  in  the 
alms  basins  in  which  a  collection  is  made  at  each 
Sunday  service.  The  amount  of  the  pledge  is  left 
to  their  own  conscience,  but  the  pledge  once  made 
they  are  held  strictly  accountable  for  its  payment. 
The  financial  affairs  are  conducted  by  a  business 
committee,  nominated  on  Easter  Monday  by  a  bal- 
lot of  the  people,  and  appointed  by  the  priest  in 
charge.  There  are  two  wardens,  a  treasurer  and 
secretary,  and  six  other  members.  The  most 
onerous  duties  fall  to  the  secretary,  who  keeps  the 
record  of  the  receipts  through  the  envelopes.  The 
other  members  of  the  committee  distribute  the  en- 
velopes to  the  contributors  in  the  districts  severally 
assigned  to  their  care.  S.  Mary's  has  been  pecul- 
iarly fortunate  in  a  succession  of  faithful  officers. 
Mr,  W.  H.  Bisiiop,  Sen.,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
work,  has  combined  with  the  office  of  warden  the 
responsible  duty  of  treasurer,  often  to  his  own  cost, 
but  always  to  the  advantage  of  the  church.  The 
office  of  junior  warden  has  been  filled  faithfully  by 


76  ®TO«lt)e  ^cars  ^tnong  l\]C  Cflolorjeb  IQeopk. 

Mr.  Richard  Mason,  Sen.,  Mr.  W.  H.  Thompson, 
and  now  by  Mr.  Jas.  Hughes.  Mr.  C.  M.  C.  Mason 
was  succeeded  us  secretary  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Clarence, 
a  young  man  of  unusual  energy  and  faithfulness  in 
the  discharge  of  duty.  Since  his  enlistment  in  the 
army,  the  post  has  been  filled  by  Mr.  Alfred  C. 
Price,  who  has  industriously  carried  on  the  work 
of  his  predecessors.  The  other  members  at  present 
are,  W.  H.  Thompson,  Kichard  Piper,  James  Blay, 
C.  A.  Johnson,  James  Eoyer,  H.  B.  Jackson,  Lloyd 
Toomey. 

As  has  been  intimated,  the  services  on  Sundays 
and  great  festivals  are  in  the  church  upstairs,  those 
on  ordinary  week  days,  the  daily  evening  prayer,  a 
choral  service  and  address  on  Friday  nights,  and 
such  early  celebrations  of  the  Holy  Communion  as 
have  been  arranged  for  the  week,  are  in  the  chantry. 

The  Holy  Communion  is  celebrated  not  only  each 
Sunday,  but  also  Thursdays,  special  holy-days,  and 
in  Lent  and  Advent  daily.  The  usual  hour  of  the 
celebration  is  6:30  a.m.  It  is  so  early  in  order  to 
accommodate  many  who  live  at  service.  AVhen  the 
number  of  clergy  in  priests'  orders  permits,  there  is 
a  second  celebration  on  Sunday  morning  at  7:30 
A.M.  But  even  when  there  is  only  the  very  early 
one,  a  considerable  number  of  men  Avho,  employed 
as  barbers  or  public  waiters,  have  been  unable  to 
go  to  bed  on  Saturday  until  long  after  midnight, 
yet  find  their  Avay  to  the  churcii  at  this  early  hour 
by  the  cold  moonlight  of  a  frosty  winter  morning. 
In  spite  of  many  being  so  situated  that  they  can 


0.  illarg's  €l)opel  axib  its  Sermccs.      77 

get  out  but  one  or  two  Sundays  during  the  month, 
the  average  number  of  communicants  on  Sunday 
mornings  during  the  past  year  has  been  49,  the 
numbers  running  from  23  to  90.  This  is  exclusive 
of  Christmas  and  Easter,  when  there  are  from  150 
to  200.*  In  1873  there  were  about  30  communi- 
cants, there  are  now  384.  There  have  been  880 
baptisms;  423  persons  liave  received  confirmation. 
Many  of  these  have  sought  employment  in  other 
cities,  and  so  the  seed  is  scattered.  This  is  one 
of  the  great  advantages  of  working  among  the  col- 
ored people  in  the  centers  of  population,  for  they 
are  constantly  coming  and  going. 

When,  a  year  ago,  the  writer  received  a  hearty 
English  welcome,  on  the  first  Sunday  spent  in  Eng- 
land, in  the  charming  little  vicarage  nestling 
among  daisy-eyed  fields  and  green  hills  at 
Prestbury,  the  first  familiar  face  that  he  saw  as 
he  looked  from  the  pulpit  of  the  lovely  old  Parish 
Church  was  a  black  one.  One  of  the  parishioners 
of  S.  Mary's  had  several  years  before  left  Baltimore 
for  the  West  Indies,  and  now  unexpectedly  appeared 
to  greet  him.  Best  of  all,  the  vicar — now  alas  ! 
driven  by  persecution  from  the  beautiful  home  of 
his  boyhood — declared  she  was  one  of  his  most  ex- 
emplary and  devout  communicants. 

On  Sundays,  after  the  early  celebrations,  morn- 

*  A  good  example  in  this  respect  is  set  them  by  Mount 
Calvary  Church,  which  reports  475  communicants,  and  where 
the  average  number  of  communicants  each  Sunday  at  the 
early  celebrations  is  about  85. 


78  twelve  ^cars  Qlmong  tl)^  (tolor^b  JJcopIe. 

ing  prayer  and  sermon  follow  at  11  o'clock.  The 
Sunday-school,  at  the  close  of  its  session  in  the 
basement,  assembles  in  the  church  at  4  p.m.  for 
a  short  musical  service  and  public  catechis- 
ing. At  8  P.M.  a  shortened  form  of  evening 
prayer  is  sung,  followed  by  a  sermon.  The  chants 
used  are  Gregorian  (Dorun  and  Nottingham*), 
the  hymns  are  set  to  inspiriting  tunes,  interspersed 
at  night  with  those  familiar  to  the  Methodists,  such 
as  **  Coronation,"  "There  is  a  Fountain,"  or 
''Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee."  On  High  Festivals, 
more  difficult  music  is  rendered,  the  Communion 
Services  of  B.  Tours,  Monk,  Mac  Farran,  or  Schu- 
bert, while  at  the  offertory  are  introduced  the  "Alle- 
luia Chorus,"  the  Gloria  of  Mozart's  Twelfth  Mass,  or 
"  Mighty  Jehovah."  The  surpliced  choir  is  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  C.  A.Johnson,  our  organist,  and 
leader  also  of  the  "  Monumental  Band  and  Orches- 
tra," who  kindly  furnish  us  an  instrumental  accom- 
paniment on  the  chief  festivals.  On  such  occasions, 
so  far  as  the  number  of  available  clergy  permits, 
the  ritual  is  more  ornate,  especially  at  the  Solemn 
Celebration.  Although  even  such  services  are  quite 
plain  as  compared  with  those  of  many  of  the  English 
churches,  or  some  in  our  own  country  that  have  led 
in  the  restoration  of  Catholic  usages,  yet  as  fur  as 
possible  the  church's  seasons  are  appropriately 
marked,  and  the  services  rendered  attractive  by 
banners,  lights,  flowers  and  a  well  ordered  service. 

*  The   excellent  American    edition    lately  published  by 
James  P6tt  &  Co. 


0.  ittarg's  Cljapel  arib  it©  Seroiccs.      79 

Doubtless,  as  has  been  often  claimed  by  writers 
on   the    subject,    an    ornate    ritual    is  especially 
adapted  to  the  temperament  of  the  colored  people, 
and  a  dry  wearisome  service  repels  them.     But  the 
work   of  Christian  grace  in  the  hearts   of  these 
people  cannot  be  accomplished  by  music  or  ritual. 
A  bright  service  will  help  to  draw  people  within  the 
reach  of  instruction,  and  will  be  always  loved  and 
prized  by  those  of  any  race  or  condition  who  have 
learned  to  make  it  the  expression  of  earnest  devotion, 
but  permanent  success  in  affecting  the  lives  of  the 
people  and  saving  souls  must  be  sought  by  deeper 
methods.    The  fearless  and  full  presentation  of  sac- 
ramental teaching,  the  use,  when  needed  and  volun- 
tarily sought,  of  confession  and  priestly  absolution, 
the  frequent  and  carefully  prepared  communions, 
the  constant  unwearying  work  of  the  sisters  among 
the  people,  the  requirement  of  obedience  to  God's 
laws  as  the  test  of  true  religion,  are  among  the  dis- 
tinctive features  of  Catholic  teaching  upon  which 
have  been  placed  confidence  in  building  up  Chris- 
tian character  among  them.     So  may  the  Church 
do  for  the  negro  what  a  religion   in  Avhich  the 
element  of  excitement  and  highly  wrought  feeling 
prevails  can  never  do.     God  forbid  that  we  should 
fail  to  recognize  the  great  work  done  by  those  re- 
ligious systems  Avhich  have  prevailed  among  them 
while  the  Church  has  so  sadly  neglected  them. 
Without  that  work  they  might  have  been  worse 
than  heathen.     Those  who  know  them  can  testify 
that  many  an  old  Baptist  brother  or  Methodist 


80  dTroeltJe  l^ears  ^tnong  tl)e  (JToloreii  fJcople. 

sister,  though  they  have  gone  "shouting  to  glory," 
liave  gone  with  a  pure  heart  and  undefiled  life. 
No  good  is  done  to  the  cause  of  religion  or  of  truth 
by  an  indiscriminate  denunciation  of  such  forms  of 
religion  as  they  have  known. '  But  as  loyal  children 
of  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church,  we  must 
believe  that  she  can  show  "a  more  excellent  way," 
and  the  more  thoughtful  among  themselves  are  rec- 
ognizing the  fact  that  the  need  of  Christian  mo- 
rality, as  the  basis  of  any  true  service  of  God,  has 
often  been  lost  sight  of  in  a  religion  which  was  too 
apt  to  mistake  the  loudest  shouter  for  the  highest 
saint. 

In  proportion  to  the  length  of  time  that  they 
have  led  the  lives  of  regular,  faithful  communi- 
cants, Ave  find  is  overcome  the  tendency  to  seasons 
of  "back-sliding,"  and  periods  of  religious  indif- 
ference, a  tendency  partly  owing  no  doubt  to  past 
religious  training,  but  also,  we  believe,  to  a  shift- 
lessness  and  lack  of  Avill-power,  that  to  a  great  ex- 
tent still  characterize  them  as  a  people.  These  traits 
it  may  be  expected  will  in  turn  be  remedied  by- 
Christian  training  and  education,  enforcement  of 
civil  laws,  and  the  fuller  appreciation  of  their 
personal  responsibility  in  their  condition  of  free- 
dom. Their  advance  thus  far  gives  no  cause  for 
despondency. 

To  awaken  them  from  these  seasons  of  luke- 
warmness,  services  of  a  more  special  and  excep- 
tional character  have  at  times  been  successfully  re- 
sorted to.     As  the  early  Church  substituted  Chris- 


S.  illarti's  Cl)apcl  axxb  its  Scruices.      81 


tian  festivals  for  lieatheii  holidays,  so  the  Church  in 
the  same  wise  and  conciliatory  spirit  may  wean  the 
colored  people  from  the  excesses  of  ''Eevivalism," 
by  adapting  herself  to  their  ways  while  yet  lead- 
ing them  to  a  higher  life.  Of  such  a  character  is 
the  preaching  of  ''missions."  Two  "Ten-days 
Missions"  have  been  given  at  S.  Mary's,  one  in  the 
first  years  of  the  work  by  the  Eev.  A.  G.  Alortimer, 
another,  more  recently,  conducted  by  the  Kev. 
George  C.  Betts.  The  immediate  results  of  a  mis- 
sion are  no  real  test  of  the  good  accomplished, 
•which  will  only  be  revealed  at  the  Last  Day.  We 
have  every  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  God 
blessed  both  these  efforts  for  converting  souls  to 
His  service,  both  by  adding  to  the  number  of  com- 
municants and  by  awakening  to  new  life  and  zeal 
those  who  were  such  already. 

An  example  of  an  effort  to  interest  the  peo- 
ple, of  quite  another  sort,  are  the  parish  festivals. 
The  first  which  we  kept,  S.  Matthew's  Day,  1882, 
commemorated  the  tenth  anniversary  of  the  first 
service  at  S.  Mar;^'s.  There  was  a  bright  service 
in  church  and  a  stirring  sermon  from  the  Eev.  B. 
W.  Maturin,  S.  S.  J.  E.  A  bounteous  supper  was 
then  served  in  the  school-rooms.  The  Hon.  B.  K. 
Bruce,  that  most  distinguished  representative  of  his 
race,  presided,  while  at  the  guest  table  were  a  num- 
ber of  clergy  and  other  distinguished  guests,  both 
white  and  colored,  the  ladies  not  failing  to  adorn 
the  occasion,  not  only  the  wives  of  the  distin- 
guished president  and  speakers,  but  those  who 
6 


82  Qlwdvc  fears  ^mong  llje  ^^oloreb  People. 

were  quite  as  distinctly  not  of  the  colored  people, 
as  Mrs.  Cluirlotte  Johnson  (daughter  of  a  distin- 
guished Virginian),  Mrs.  Burry,  and  others.  The 
presence  of  the  Baltimore  Rifles,  in  uniform, 
added  to  the  gayety  of  the  scene.  Mr.  Bruce,  after 
a  happy  little  speech,  called  on  Mr.  Laugston,  U. 
S.  Minister  to  Hayti,  and  others  of  the  guests  to 
respond  to  sentiments,  and  at  midnight  the  bell 
called  all  to  the  church  to  give  thanks  for  a  very 
happy  festal  day  in  a  solemn  Te  Deum. 

Another  parish  festival  has  just  been  celebrated, 
■when  as  president  of  the  supper  we  were  favored 
with  the  presence  of  that  staunch  churchman  as 
well  as  highly  esteemed  physician  Dr.  A.  T.  Au- 
gusta, while  among  the  preachers  and  speakers  were 
the  Dean  of  Baltimore,  Dr.  Rich,  Rev.  Drs.  Fair 
and  Ilyland,  Rev.  S.  C.  Stokes,  Rev.  H.  C.  Bishop 
of  Charleston,  Rev.  J.  B.  Massiah  of  Newark,  and 
others. 

There  are  frequent  entertainments  of  a  less  for- 
mal character  for  the  purpose  of  social  intercourse, 
such  as  suppers  conducted  by  the  female  parochial 
societies.  The  Saint  Faith's  Guild  of  School- 
girls and  the  Young  Women's  Guild  of  S.  Mary  the 
Virgin,  have  their  little  teas  arranged  by  the  Sis- 
ters. S.  Mary's  Young  Men's  Guild  has  conducted 
several  successful  entertaintments,  dramatic,  lit- 
erary, or  musical,  and  under  two  successive  and 
faithful  Guild  Masters,  Mr.  R.  A.  Blay  and  Mr.  W. 
E.  Tilghman,  have  done  something  toward  uniting 
the  young  men  in  the  work  of  the  parish.     On  the 


6.  iHarn's  Cliapcl  anb  its  Scrmces.      83 

whole  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  result  of  Guild 
and  Society  work  has  not  been  all  that  had  been 
hoped  for.  The  great  irregularity  of  the  colored 
people  in  attending  meetings  or  performing  pre- 
scribed duties,  partly  owing  to  the  nature  of  their 
employments  but  still  more  from  lack  of  sense  of 
personal  responsibility,  and  their  tendency  to  petty 
jealousies  are  among  the  causes  which  it  is  hoped 
time  will  somewhat  remove. 

The  details  given  convey  a  very  inadequate 
idea  of  our  method  of  work,  yet  it  is  hoped  it  may 
be  of  some  service  as  a  guide  to  many  who  have 
asked  to  know  it.  Those  of  our  readers  who  can 
come  and  see  for  themselves  may  be  sure  of  a  hearty 
welcome. 

The  church  building  is  now  complete  in  its  main 
features,  and,  except  a  trifling  sum,  being  rapidly 
paid,  is  free  of  all  debt.  It  is  sufficiently  beauti- 
ful, especially  in  the  appointments  of  the  chancel, 
to  teach  that  it  is  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  not 
erected  chiefly  with  the  thought  of  the  convenience 
of  worshipers,  nor  made  poor  because  their  own 
homes  are  necessarily  so.  Some  Avail  decoration 
and  additional  stained  glass,  some  casing  and  plas- 
tering in  the  school-rooms,  and  similar  "finishing 
touches"  are  needed  for  its  entire  completion.  This 
will  all  doubtless  be  provided  by  the  voluntary 
oflerings  which  it  has  been  found  the  congregation 
readily  supply  for  the  perfecting  of  a  building 
which  they  regard  with  an  honest  pride  and  an 
earnest  affection.     Already  a  ''nest  egg"  is  laid 


Si  ^roeloc  J3cors  Qlmong  tl]e  Coloreb  fJcople. 

by  toward  a  reredos  in  which  can  be  phiced  a  mar- 
ble panel  representing  in  basso  relievo  the  Adoration 
of  the  Magi,  the  Avork  and  generous  gift  to  S. 
Mary's  of  the  colored  artist  residing  at  Eonie,  Miss 
Edmonia  I;ewis.  Too  long  it  has  lain  in  its  pack- 
ing box,  but  we  felt  bound  to  pay  all  our  honest 
debts  before  carrying  on  the  work  of  ornamenta- 
tion. Among  a  people  imaginative  by  nature, 
and  many  of  whom  read  with  ditficulty,  it  wonld 
doubtless  be  useful  to  use  well  executed  designs 
of  Scripture  scenes,  or  other  pictorial  decoration. 
We  confess  Ave  have  sometimes  indnlged  in  an  am- 
bitious dream  of  seeing  upon  the  Avails  of  S.  Mary's 
two  scenes  from  the  life  of  one  of  the  martyrs 
of  our  own  communion.  The  first  scene  should 
represent  young  Patterson  standing  on  the  shore 
of  that  South  Sea  island,  his  arms  about  tlie  necks 
of  the  two  naked,  black  savages  at  his  side,  while 
he  Avatched  the  white-Avinged  ship  sail  aAvay  to  that 
English  home  he  had  left  forever.  The  second 
should  be  of  the  martyred  Bishop,  his  body  pierced 
Avith  five  Avounds  and  the  palm  branches  crossed 
above  him,  floating  toward  his  disciples  in  that 
Icnelvboat.  The  teaching  of  such  a  life,  the  living 
for  others  and  not  for  self,  surely  Avould  not  be  lost 
if  thns  kept  before  the  colored  people  of  the  United 
States. 


v'-^i'?-l^'-'U  Co 


HOME   PROM  MARKET. 
From  a  pencil  sketch  by  a  communicant  of  St.  Mary^s  Church. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    SCHOOLS. 

Christian  education  has  formed  a  prominent 
feature  in  the  woi-k  of  S.  Mary's  Chapel.  In  the 
schools  have  been  met  the  greatest  successes  as 
Avell  as  the  greatest  discouragements  and  disappoint- 
ments. 

Tiie  permanence  of  any  work  of  our  Church 
among  the  colored  people  will  largely  depend  upon 
church  schools.  The  earlier  Avork  of  our  Church 
among  them  was  severely  censured  for  too  exclu- 
sively pressing  educational  work.  From  these  cen- 
sures, as  well  perhaps  as  from  their  own  reports,  it 
would  appear  that  while  the  general  principle  was 
a  good  one,  they  made  some  fatal  mistakes  in  carry- 
ing it  out.  Schools  were  established  where  no  ojipor- 
tnnities  were  aiforded  of  church  services.  So  they 
become  an  end,  not  a  means.  Instead  of  concen- 
trating funds  on  a  few  centers  and  establishing 
first  class  institutions,  the  work  was  spread  out  so 
thin  as  to  be  to  a  great  extent  ineffectual.  In 
strong  contrast  to  this  weak  policy  of  the  Church 
have  been  some  of  the  most  successful  efforts  of 
other  religious  bodies. 

"Let  me  take  you,"  said  a  prominent  colored 
Methodist  minister  in  one  of  the  largest  Southern 
cities,  as  he  held  open  the  door  of  his  carriage  to 


86  dttj^be  ^cax5  Qltnong  tl)e  (floloreb  JJeople. 

the  writer,  ''  to  s^e  wliat  your  Church  is  doing  for 
my  people."  As  we  drove  thitlier,  he  continued, 
"I  am  a  member  of  the  English  Church,  I  came 
to  this  country  from  the  West  Indies.  After  being 
excluded  from  one  church  after  another  on  account 
of  the  color  of  my  skin,  I  determined  I  would  never 
connect  myself  with  the  Episcopal  Church  until  it 
became  Christian."  We  stopped  at  the  door  of  a 
little  building — one  might  almost  say  "shanty." 
We  entered.  An  old  wiiite-headed  negro  greeted 
us  warmly.  He  was  a  kindly  old  man,  rather  in- 
telligent, lie  carried  us  to  the  end  of  the  room 
where  he  had  a  class  of  the  older  children.  These 
he  taught  during  the  week  and  acted  as  lay  reader 
in  this  same  building  on  Sundays.  At  the  other 
end  of  this  Pro-Chapel  was  his  wife,  a  nice  old 
aunty  with  Madras  kerchief  on  her  head,  trying  to 
teach  a  younger  class  their  letters.  We  use  the 
word  trying  advisedly,  for  if  by  accident  a  child 
sometimes  called  a  letter  by  its  right  name  the 
aunty  was  pretty  sure  to  tell  the  child  it  was  wrong. 
This  faithful,  devout,  but  ignorant  old  pair  were  two 
who  appeared  on  the  list  of  missionaries  employed 
by  the  church,  and  this  the  only  mission  station  for 
the  colored  people  in  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
influential  of  the  cities  of  the  South.  We  had 
tremblingly  passed  under  a  portion  of  the  ceiling 
where  the  plaster  hung  threateningly  like  the 
sword  of  Damocles.  The  old  man  took  advantage 
of  the  opportunity — he  was  naturally  clever  as  well 
as  amiable.     He  showed  us  a  subscription  list  for 


aiie  0cl)ools.  87 

the  repair  of  the  building.  "  "We  Avould  like, 
Ecverend,  to  patch  that  a'  plasteriii'  and  tidy  up 
a  bit  witli  whitewash  an'  paint."  Eegretting  to  be 
unable  to  subscribe  a  larger  sum,  S.  Mary's,  Bal- 
timore, was  placed  on  the  list  fur  $5.00.  The  old 
man's  eyes  glistened  with  tears  ;  so  large  a  sum, 
he  said,  had  only  once  before  been  given  them — 
and  yet  the  names  of  rectors  of  wealthy  parishes  of 
the  city  Avere  on  that  list.  *'  Come,"  said  my  guide, 
"  let  us  drive  where  I  can  show  you  another  school 
for  my  people."  Again  we  drove  together  through 
the  broad  shaded  avenues,  while  passers  by  looked 
up  witii  scorn  that  two  of  difterent  skins  were  driv- 
ing together,  though  they  were  those  who  preached, 
the  gospel  of  Jesus,  the  Carpenter.  We  draw  up 
before  a  stately  building.  Within  are  several  hun- 
dred scholars.  Tiie  higlier  classes  are  making  ex- 
cellent recitations  in  Virgil,  in  geometry,  in  liter- 
ature, and  from  these  halls,  filled  w'ith  neatly  dressed, 
■well  disciplined  and  bright-faced  pupils,  were  an- 
nually going  forth  .teacliers  to  every  part  of  the 
State.  It  was  not  a  State  institution.  A  Method- 
ist chaplain  during  the  war  had  conceived  the 
idea,  and  heartily  sustained  by  his  denomination, 
hud  built  and  organized  this  school,  and  was  him- 
self the  principal. 

As  the  Church's  work  has  been  chiefly  planned 
by  the  rectors  of  Northern  parishe.'^,  Avho  have  lit- 
tle intercourse  with  colored  men  unless  as  se.xtons 
of  their  fashionable  churches,  Avhile  little  oppor- 
tunity has  been  afforded  those  who  actually  labored 


88  (Jtuduc  ^cax5  !l.mong  t\)e  Colored  JJeople. 

among  the  colored  people  to  suggest  or  in  any  way 
make  their  experience  of  service,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  these  and  other  still  moi'e  fatal  mistakes 
have  been  made.  AVhile  so  little  was  doing  to  re- 
lieve the  real  grievances  which  the  colored  peojile 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  Church,  Southern  sen- 
timents were  wantonly  and  needlessly  disregarded. 
Some  years  since  a  lady  teacher,  a  white  woman, 
was  employed  by  the  Board  of  Missions  in  a  city  of 
the  far  South.  She  boarded  at  the  house  of  the 
negro  clergyman  in  Avhose  parish  she  tauglit,  an 
unpardonable  error  of  judgment,  even  had  he  not 
been  charged  with  gross  misconduct.  He  has 
since  been  deposed.  Considering  the  scandals 
connected  with  it — scandals  well  known  to  the 
clergy  of  the  city — it  Avas  worse. 

But  the  general  principle  of  establishing  church 
schools  wherever  work  is  undertaken,  is  a  sound 
one.  Said  a  colored  Methodist  "  Bishop  "  to  one 
of  S.  Mary's  wardens  :  "  I  see  my  people  as  they 
become  educated  are  leaving  us.  I  do  not  wish 
them  to  become  Roman  Catholics.  If  your  Church 
will  provide  for  them  as  she  ought,  I  would  gladly 
advise  them  from  my  pulpit  to  go  to  you  if  they 
have  made  up  their  minds  to  leave  us."  For  many 
years  at  least,  it  is  probable  that  it  is  chiefly  this 
better  educated  portion  of  the  colored  people  that 
the  Church  will  win.  At  some  future  time  great 
masses  of  the  people  may  be  ready  to  come  to  her. 
In  one  notable  instance  in  Virginia  it  is  claimed 
they  are  so  ready.     There  have  been  some  remark- 


She  Sdiools.  89 

able  signs  of  lute  of  seeking  Iluly  Orders  from  the 
Cluiruh  in  the  body  known  us  the  ''A.  M.  E. 
Church,"  although  this  originated  with  the  most 
intelligent  among  their  "Bishops"  and  preacliers. 
Allowing  for  these  exceptions,  probably  in  the 
country  parts  and  certainly  in  tlie  cities — where  our 
experience  leads  us  to  speak  with  more  certainty — 
it  will  be  the  more  intelligent  element  that  will  be 
drawn  to  the  Church.  The  school,  therefore,  pre- 
pares the  soil  from  which  the  young  generation  of 
the  Church  will  grow. 

Moreover,  the  colored  people  are  very  ambitious 
for  their  children,  generally  grateful  to  those  who 
benefit  them,  and,  in  spite  of  the  assertion  of  many 
to  the  contrary,  they  are  very  fond  of  them.  Hence 
not  only  are  the  children  in  such  schools  educated 
in  the  Church's  ways,  but  through  the  children  the 
parents  are  drawn  to  her.  AYe  do  not  think  we 
should  err  in  estimating  considerably  moi'e  than 
one-half  of  the  increase  of  S.  Mary's  congregation 
as  the  result  of  our  schools.  At  the  very  beginning 
of  our  work  a  parish  school  was  established.  It 
w^as  begun  in  the  basement  of  the  church,  on  the 
13th  of  Sept.,  1813,  with  twenty- nine  boys  and  thirty 
girls.  From  the  first,  pupils  have  been  charged  a 
small  tuition  fee,  averaging  ten  cents  weekly.  That 
is  lightly  esteemed  for  which  nothing  is  paid.  All 
felloAV  Avorkers  among  the  colored  people  whom  Ave 
haA^e  consulted  agree  that  it  is  best  not  to  make  the 
schools  absolutely  free. 

At  first,  the  clergy  took  turns  in  acting  as  prin- 


cipal,  the  heavier  burden  of  work  fulling  to  Mr. 
Leeson,  indefatigable  in  his  labors.  One  of  the 
Sisters  superintended  the  girls'  department.  Ladies 
came  in  at  various  hours  to  assist.  It  was,  however, 
found  undesirable  to  continue  the  school  in  this 
way.  Kind  as  the  volunteer  service  was,  it  was 
irregular,  and  the  constant  change  of  teachers  dis- 
organized the  school.  The  parochial  work  increased 
so  rapidly  that  the  clergy  could  not  give  the  needed 
time  to  school  teaching.  After  a  number  of  exper- 
iments it  has  been  found  best  to  accept  the  services 
of  only  such  volunteers  as  can  give  with  entire 
regularity  definite  hours  of  the  week,  and  so  take 
exclusive  charge  of  specified  studies.  Several  Mount 
Calvary  ladies  still  teach  in  the  school  in  this  way 
with  greatest  benefit  both  to  the  minds  and  the 
hearts  of  their  pupils.  One  deserves  especial  notice, 
as  from  the  very  opening  of  the  school  having  given 
her  services  daily,  and  for  the  whole  day,  as  a  labor 
of  love.  Surely  the  labors  of  those  kind  friends 
will  not  be  forgotten  when  the  Master  cometh  with 
His  reward  with  lliin. 

Where  a  fixed  salary  has  been  given,  it  has,  as  a 
rule,  been  found  host  to  secure  colored  teachers. 
Others  usually  connect  an  idea  of  degradation  with 
teaching  colored  children,  and  accept  the  task  only 
Aviien  otlier  eniploynient  fails.  Children  quickly 
detect  this  spii'ir,  and  are  neitlier  respectful  nor 
studious  nmler  them. 

Soon  after  oi)t'niug  our  schools  a  house  was  rented 
for  a  boardins;  school  for  girls.    Many  colored  men 


Qi\)c  Sdiools.  91 


in  the  Soitth  at  that  time  held  important  and  lucra- 
tive positions.  They  were  sending  their  daugliters 
North  to  be  educated  in  scliools,  most  of  whicii 
were  under  influences  very  liostile  to  our  Cluirch, 
in  some  cases  hostile  to  all  Christian  teaching. 

The  establishment  of  this  school  troubled  some 
of  the  truest  friends  of  onr  work,  and  called  forth 
bitter  censure  from  others  less  friendly  disposed. 
That  colored  girls  should  be  taught  music,  French^ 
and  Latin  Avas  contrary  to  all  their  convictions. 
It  did  not  occur  to  them  that  even  if  these  studies 
had  not  been  to  the  girls'  advantage,  their  parents 
had  the  means  and  the  desire  to  obtain  such  an 
education  for  them,  and  that  it  was  vastly  better 
that  they  should  receive  it  under  the  restraining, 
conservative  influence  of  the  Church,  and  in  a 
school  where  they  were  permitted  only  to  advance 
step  by  step  as  rapidly  as  they  could  advance 
thoroughly,  than  in  the  irreligious  institutions  estab- 
lislied  chiefly  for  political  ends,  or  in  schools  where 
a  superficial  education  was  garnished  by  a  smatter- 
ing of  instruction  in  wax  flowers  and  gaudy  needle- 
work. Besides,  we  must  deal  with  hard  facts. 
There  were  at  that  time  colored  men,  not  only  as 
now  in  all  the  professions,  but  al-o  United  States 
senators  and  members  of  Congress.  AVhatever 
one's  theories  on  the  subject,  is  it  to  be  expected  or 
desired  tliat  such  men  or  their  families  should  re- 
main ignorant?  Would  those  who  consider  it  a 
stain  upon  the  honor  of  their  country  to  see  any 
but  a  white  man  sitting  in  the  Senate,  or  placing 


92  Sttjcloe  flears  ^mong  the  Coloreb  people. 

his  signature  upon  the  paper  currency,  feel  less 
humiliated  if  instead  of  being  gentlemanly  in  de- 
portment, and  occupying  the  position  with  dignity 
and  ability,  he  had  been  an  illiterate  boor?  Is  it  to 
be  wished  that  he  had  selected  for  his  wife,  in  whose 
drawing-room  must  be  seen  tlie  ladies  of  the  White 
House,  and  who  mingles  with  the  highest  of  the 
land  in  state  receptions,  an  ignorant  and  vulgar 
woman  instead  of  one  whose  quiet  grace,  gentle 
courtesy,  and  intelligent  conversation  have  won  the 
esteem  of  all  who  have  known  her?  Is  it  well  if 
we  are  to  have  priests  from  this  race,  who,  if  priests 
at  all,  must  in  their  office  be  the  peers  of  any  priest, 
and  be  raised  above  all  laymen,  that  they  should 
not  have  wives  of  education  and  good  taste  to 
make  their  homes  centers  of  refinement?  So  plain 
seemed  the  answers  to  these  questions,  that  clergy 
and  sisters  hesitated  not  to  establish  the  school. 
For  several  years  it  was  Avell  filled  with  boarders 
and  day  pupils.  When  political  changes  came  in 
the  South,  by  which  fewer  colored  men  held  lucra- 
tive positions,  it  became  more  difficult  to  maintain 
it.  A  number  of  good  schools  had  in  the  mean 
time  been  opened  in  the  South,  and  our  own  was  less 
needed.  Death  and  other  causes  had  diminished 
our  corps  of  laborers,  and  ic  was  difficult  to  maintain 
both  the  school  and  a  boys'  orphanage  which  had 
been  opened  in  a  small  house  which  it  had  already 
outgrown.  We,  therefore,  closed  the  school,  and 
moved  the  boys  into  the  house  it  had  occupied. 
But  it  must  not  be  thousht  that  the  life  of  this 


®lic  Schools.  93 


school,  short  as  it  Avas,  was  fruitless.  We  have 
had  gratifying  tidings  of  old  pupils  in  various  parts 
of  the  South.  Some  have  become  efficient  teachers. 
Nearly  all  have  remained  steadfast  Christian  church 
women.  Some  have  had  sore  trials  iii  the  difficulty 
of  being  allowed  to  commune  where  there  were  no 
special  church  congregations  of  colored  people. 

In  the  day  of  the  boarding-school  the  Bishop  of 
Hayti  sent  three  girls  of  his  diocese  to  be  educated 
in  our  school.  Two  were  long  since  returned  to 
their  native  island  as  communicants  of  the  church  ; 
the  third,  Miss  Alice  Baker,  remained  with  us  and 
became  a  most  efficient  tencher.  She  has  lately 
returned  to  Hayti  under  appointment  of  the  Board 
of  Missions  to  teach  in  one  of  the  bishop's  schools. 
She  will  be  greatly  missed  in  our  own  work,  where 
she  has  endeared  herself  to  all.* 

A  number  of  girls,  now  of  S.  Mary's  congrega- 
tion, who  were  trained  as  day  pupils  of  our  school, 
are  marked  for  purity  of  life  and  converaitiou, 
gentleness  of  manners  and  faithfulness  to  duties. 
Their  good  influence  is  frequently  spoken  of,  and 
its  genuineness  can  be  best  illustrated  by  a  remark 
made  by  a  prominent  colored  man  of  Washington, 
himself  a  Congregational ist:  "  You  do  not  know, 
sir,"  he  said,  'Miow  far  beyond  the  circle  of  your 
own  congregation  the  woi'k  of  S.  Mary's  is  felt.  It 
used  to  be  that  in  entertainments  given  by  our 
people  in  Baltimore,  a  young  man  might  be  talk- 
ing to  a  perfectly  respectalde  girl,  with  low-necked 


*  See  note  on  last  page. 


94  Qimelvic  ^cars  ^moitg  ll]e  Colorcb  Dcoplc. 

dress,  resting  his  hand  iipon  her  bare  shoulder  nn- 
rebuked.  But  it  is  often  said  by  our  young  men 
in  Wusliington  tliat  you  cannot  now  do  that  on 
account  of  the  example  of  the  S.  Mary's  girls." 

The  boys'  school  has  had  a  still  more  varied  his- 
tory. OAving  to  the  difficulty  of  holding  both 
boys'  and  girls'  schools  in  the  croAvded  basement, 
before  the  enlargement  of  the  church,  a  house  was 
rented  Avith  the  expectation  of  a  clergyman  under- 
taking a  boys'  boarding  as  Avell  as  day  school  for 
advanced  pupils.  Failure  of  health  and  other  rea- 
sons caused  this  clergyman  to  retire  before  the 
school  was  opened,  leaving  the  house  rented  for 
three  years  on  our  hands. 

In  this  dilemma  we  were  so  fortunate  as  to  se- 
cure the  services  of  a  young  man  Avho  desired  event- 
ually to  study  for  the  ministry,  but  in  the  mean 
time  Avas  glad  to  engage  in  church  work,  Avithout 
other  remuneration  than  "board  and  lodging." 
Mr.  Charles  C.  Quin  for  three  years  efficiently  and 
earnestly  taught  the  school  in  the  house,  180  W. 
Biddle  Street.  His  courtesy  and  kindness  to  the 
people  caused  him  to  be  as  much  beloved  by  them 
as  he  Avas  prized  by  the  clergy.  Having  out  of 
kindness  prolonged  his  stay  beyond  his  original 
intention,  he  went  to  North  Carolina  to  fulfill  his 
long  cherished  Avish  of  receiving  Holy  Orders, 
where  he  remains  doing  faithful  Avork. 

"When  Ave  first  embarked  in  Christian  education, 
zealous  friends  supplied  us  Avith  a  number  of  gen- 
eral principles  for  our  guidance,  e.  g.  : 


(2ri)e  0cl)ool0.  95 


"Colored  children  are  quite  precooious  to  a  cer- 
tain point,  beyond  which  it  is  impossible  to  educate 
them." 

"  If  there  are  any  very  bright  pupils  in  a  school, 
it  will  be  sure  to  be  traceable  to  Avhite  blood  in 
their  veins." 

"  Only  the  blacks  will  have  the  necessary  endur- 
ance for  education.  The  admixture  of  white  blood 
weakens  body  and  mind." 

These  are  mere  samples.  After  twelve  years  ex- 
perience of  a  school  of  from  one  hundred  to  two 
hundred  children,  none  of  those  rules  seem  to 
"work."  Practical  experience  is  the  best  mode  of 
exploding  such  theories,  Avhich  can  be  pretty  much 
reduced  to  the  simple  proposition  that  in  the  mat- 
ter of  mental  training,  colored  children  are  much 
like  any  other  children  under  the  same  circum- 
stances. 

It  may  perhaps  be  laid  down  as  a  rnle-^thongh 
we  have  found  some  apparent  exceptions — that  the 
imaginative  faculties  are  more  strongly  developed 
in  the  negro  than  the  logical.  1'he  power  of  mem- 
ory is  also  strong.  They  are  more  likely  in  the  fu- 
ture to  produce  historians,  poets,  artists  and  musi- 
cians than  mathematicians  and  philosophers.  They 
are  more  likely  to  furnish  Darwins  than  Bacons, 
inventors  than  patient  investigators.  As  for  deter- 
mining any  fixed  laws  of  mental  progress  by  a  color 
test,  there  are  not  yet  sufficient  recorded  data 
for  such  generalizations.  Of  the  two  pupils  who 
advanced    farthest    in    S.    Mary's    schools,    i.   e. 


1)6  dxaclvc  ^caxs  ^mong  tljc  Coloreb  JJcojjIc. 

through  Virgilj  Cicero's  orations,  algebra,  and  so  on, 
one  was  lighter  than  most  white  men,  with  bine 
eyes  and  straight  flaxen  hair,  the  other's  face 
Avoiild  hardly  have  shown  a  mark  npon  it  from  char- 
coal. They  kept  pretty  even  pace  while  in  the  school. 
The  former  was  qnicker,  the  latter  the  more  steady 
plodder,  and  it  is  possible  this  will  be  found  to  be  a 
usual  diflference  between  the  mulatto  and  the  black. 
But  we  would  not  venture  the  assertion  without 
further  corroboration.  AVliile  among  both  the 
blacks  and  mulattoes  there  were  such  encouraging 
pupils,  there  were  naturally  others  equally  imper- 
vious to  ideas. 

"We  trust  one  honest  fellow  will  pardon  our  using 
him  as  an  example.  He  has  since  turned  out  a 
good,  steady,  upright  workman.  His  schoolmates 
— after  the  manner  of  boys — nick-named  him  the 
"  india-rubber  boy."  There  seemed  to  be  no 
bones  or  fixed  joints  in  his  body.  When  G.  Avas 
asked  a  question  he  would  begin  to  wriggle. 
First  he  would  shuffle  his  feet,  then  his  ankles 
would  begin  to  twist,  then  his  legs  to  writhe, 
finally  Avhen  arms,  legs  and  whole  body  were 
going  through  painful  contortions  and  gyra- 
tions, out  would  pop  the  answer  from  his  mouth 
with  a  sort  of  explosive  force  of  desperation  as  if 
from  an  air-gun.  But  the  answer  thus  pain- 
fully worked  out  Avas  not  always  satisfactory. 
For  G.  had  a  way  of  mastering  one  long  word, 
the  first  that  struck  his  fancy,  early  in  the  day. 
This  was  made  to  do  service  in  answering  all  sub- 


QL[)e  Scl)00l5.  97 

sequent  qne?tions  of  a  puzzling  character.  On 
one  occasion,  when  he  had  just  finished  liis 
geograi)liy  recitation,  lie  Avas  called  in  tlie  his- 
tory class  to  give  the  name  of  one  of  the  Pres- 
idents of  the  United  States.  He  began  to  writhe 
with  unwonted  energy,  at  last,  after  seeming  to 
wriggle  up  from  his  feet  the  whole  length  of  his 
body,  out  popped  the  unexpected  answer,  "Archi- 
pelago, sir." 

But  our  pupils  were  not  all  like  G.,  though  we 
have  found  many  through  whose  long-darkened 
intellects  it  was  slow  work  to  diffuse  light.  We 
have,  however,  carefully  compared  our  schools  with 
those  attended  chiefly  by  children  of  the  laboring 
class,  both  in  this  country  and  in  England,  and  we 
believe  they  would  not  compare  unfavorably.  As 
less  likely  to  be  considered  prejudiced  in  their  favor 
on  so  important  a  question,  we  give  the  ojoinion  of 
the  chairman  of  the  Diocesan  Committee  on  Edu- 
cation : 

Rectory,  Cnuncn  of  the  Redeemer,  \ 

Charles  Street  Avenue,  v 

July  20,  1880.       ) 

Reverend  ajstd  Dear  Brother  : 

Having  attended,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Re- 
hgious  Instruction  of  the  Diocese,  the  examinations  of  your 
Schools  for  Colored  Boys,  I  want  to  say  to  you  how  much 
impressed  I  was  with  the  results  of  your  work. 

I  saw  enough,  I  thought,  to  solve  the  doubts  of  any  one 

concerning  the  capability  of  the  colored  race  for  intellectual 

attainment.     I  anl  sure,  at  least,  the  mistakes  made  by  the 

boys  were  as  few,  and  the  results  of  the  examinations  were 

7 


as  good,  as  would  have  been  found  in  any  school  of  the  same 
grade  in  the  city. 

The  readiness  and  accuracy  with  which  the  boys  told  the 
prominent  facts  of  the  history  of  the  countrj',  and  with 
which  they  worked  out  at  the  blackboard  even  quite  coinpli- 
catfd  questions  in  arithmetic,  were  noteworthy;  but  I  was 
especially  gratified  to  observe  that  in  such  studies  as  Eng- 
lish grammar,  for  instance,  they  made  an  effort  to  thifik — 
as  good  and  as  successful  as  I  have  been  able  elsewhere  to 
see. 

The  discipline  of  the  school  was  excellent,  and  the  bearing 
of  the  boys  as  modest  and  respectful  as  could  have  been  de- 
sired ;  and  1  most  cheerfully  say  to  you  that  I  should  con- 
sider it  a  downright  misfortune  to  the  Church  if  the  experi- 
ment which  you  seem  to  be  making  so  successfully  in  behalf 
of  the  race  should  fail  for  lack  of  support  or  encouragement. 

Yours  tridy, 

Geo.  C.  Stokes. 

Rev.  Calbkaith  B.  Perry. 

"J'he  Dean  of  Baltimore,  himself  an  experienced 
and  successful  teacher,  having  on  a  number  of  oc- 
casions attended  our  examinations,  expressed  the 
like  opinion,  Avhile  Bishop  Whij)p]e  wrote,  in  1870, 
*'  Daring  my  recent  visit  to  Baltimore  I  visited  the 
schools  under  the  care  of  the  Eev.  Calbraith  B. 
Perry  and  the  Sisters  of  S.  Mary's.  I  was  much 
pleased  Avith  the  schools.  It  seemed  to  me  an 
honest  effort  to  grapple  with  and  do  the  work  for 
this  people  in  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  Christian 
love." 

At  the  opening  of  our  school  at  adjoining  desks 
in  the  front  row  sat  three  intelligent  boys.  They 
Avere  often  spoken  of  as  illustrating,  not  the"un- 


the  0cl]ools.  99 


secturiiiii  character"  of  the  school  (as  the  phrase 
goes),  we  never  boasted  of  that,  but  the  diversity  in 
religious  faith  of  its  pupils.  One  Avas  the  lay  server 
at  our  own  altar;  another,  sanctuary-boy  at  S. 
Francis',  the  Roman  Catholic  church  for  colored 
people;  the  third,  the  son  of  a  Methodist  minister. 
The  last  that  Avas  heard  of  the  preacher's  boy  Avas 
in  the  State  Penitentiary.  The  others  have  had  a 
more  creditable  career.  The  "  sanctuary-boy"  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Philadelphia.  Devotedly 
attached  to  his  mother,  a  devout  Eomanist,  who 
well  deserved  his  afFt'Ction,  he  regularly  attended 
church  with  her,  until  one  day  he  said,  "Mother,  I 
have  reached  an  age  when  I  must  think  for  myself, 
I  attended  S.  Mary's  school  too  long  to  be  satisfied 
to  remain  in  your  Church.  I  wish  to  find  an  Epis- 
copal Church  with  which  to  connect  myself."  The 
mother,  of  course,  regretted  his  choice,  but  she  her- 
self, while  living  in  Baltimore,  had  become  very 
fond  of  S.  Mary's,  and  did  not  seek  to  dissuade  him. 
He  has  ever  since  remained  faithful  in  the  com- 
munion of  his  choice.  He  became  a  messenger  boy 
in  the  United  States  Signal  Service  Office,  and  so 
approved  himself  to  his  employer  that  Avhen  the 
latter  Avas  appointed  to  a  position  in  the  Avater- 
Avorks,  he  took  tlie  lad  with  him,  and  promoted 
him.  He  noAV,  after  his  hard  day's  Avork,  deA'otes 
his  evenings  to  study  at  the  Franklin  Institute,  and 
bids  fair  to  make  a  successful  mechanical  engineer, 
an  honorable,  as  he  has  already  become  an  indus- 
trious and  conscientious  man. 


100  (Jroebe  gears  '^tnong  tlic  Coloreb  IJcople. 

Our  own  server,  the  son  of  our  senior  warden, 
and  brother  of  the  Mrs.  Mason  whose  earnest  work 
has  been  recorded  in  a  previous  chapter,  from  an 
early  age  desired  to  enter  the  ministry. 

When  he  and  a  schoohiiate  who  had  the  same 
purpose  reached  the  highest  grade  of  our  school,  it 
became  a  question  Avhere  they  should  complete 
their  education.  Their  friends  had  not  the  means 
to  send  them  to  Harvard  or  other  Northern  institu- 
tions which  Avere  occasionally  graduating  colored 
men.  The  Church  made  no  provision  for  them. 
Just  at  this  time  Prof.  Babbitt,  then  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  South  Carolina,  whom  the  Priest  in  charge 
happened  to  be  visiting,  promised  them  a  welcome 
at  Columbia,  and  they  Avere  cordially  received  by 
professors  and  students,  both  white  and  colored. 
A  few  months  later  the  University  was  closed.  Tlie 
young  men  returned  to  Baltimore  greatly  dis- 
heartened. One  of  them.  Bishop,  the  server  of 
whom  we  have  spoken,  was  still  ready  to  persevere. 
His  companion  abandoned  his  purpose  and  became 
a  school-teacher.  Bishop  Wliittingham,  ever  ready 
with  counsel  and  encouragement,  advised  entering 
young  Bishop  at  S.  Stephen's,  Annandale.  "We 
regret  to  say  its  officers  were  not  then  ready  to  open 
its  doors  to  colored  students.  We  understand  they 
now  act  on  a  more  liberal  policy,  and  we  make  no 
further  reflection  on  the  events  of  the  past  which 
added  to  our  discouragement  and  kindled  the  in- 
dignation of  the  Bishop  of  Maryland. 

No  choice  seemed  left  but  to  prepare  the  young 


^[)c  Q:\)oo\q.  101 


man  at  home,  as  best  could  be  done,  for  tlie  Semi- 
nary. Kindly  aided  at  times  by  others.  Prof.  Witte 
of  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Schaefer,  now  a  highly  esteem- 
ed teacher  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,but  then  a  Harvard 
nndergradnate,  tlie  clergy  condncted  him  through 
his  studies  until  he  was  prepared  to  present  him- 
self to  the  chaplains  of  the  Diocese  for  examina- 
tion in  all  the  studies  prescribed  by  Canon.  He 
passed  successfully,  complimented  by  his  examin- 
ers, and  Avas  admitted  a  candidate  for  Priest's 
Orders  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  Maryland. 
He  entered  the  General  Theological  Seminary  in 
New  York,  the  first  colored  student  to  enter,  as 
Avell,  it  is  believed,  as  the  first  to  apjdy  since  Mr. 
Alexander  Crummcl,  now  the  Eev.  Dr.  Crummel 
of  Washington,  had  been  refused  admission  some 
forty  years  before. 

It  deserves  to  be  recorded  that  Mr.  Bishop 
not  only  received  a  cordial  Avelcome  from  the 
Faculty  and  the  Dean,  the  present  Bishop  of 
Springfield,  as  well  as  from  his  successor,  but  also 
from  his  fellow  students.  Wiien  the  attention  of 
the  Church  was  called  to  the  expediency  of  es- 
tablishing special  institutions  for  the  theological 
education  of  colored  men,  a  memorial  was  prepared, 
and  signed  by  the  Seminary  students,  candidates 
from  Southern  Dioceses  taking  the  lead,  setting 
forth  the  willingness  to  cordially  welcome  colored 
candidates  to  the  existing  Seminaries  and  Theo- 
logical schools,  and  the  consequent  uselessness  and 
inexpediency  of  establishing  special   institutions 


102  QLwelvc  l^jeirs  QVmong  l\)e  Coloteb  people. 

for  the  purpose,  at  additional  cost  to  the  Church 
and  with  necessarily  less  advantages  to  the  can- 
didates. 

Mr.  Bishop  liad  grown  up  with  tlie  idea  of  assist- 
ing after  his  ordination  at  S.  Mary's.  At  that 
time  he  inclined  to  make  school  teaching  liis  es- 
pecial future  work.  This  was  one  cause  of  so  long 
retaining  the  house  on  Biddle  Street,  ill-adapted  to 
its  use  as  a  day  school,  but  admirably  situated  for 
a  boarding  school,  which  it  was  intended  to  open 
as  soon  as  Mr.  Bishop  should  return  to  be  its 
principal. 

Mr.  Bishop,  having  completed  the  full  course  of 
study  and  graduated,  returned  to  Baltimore  to  be 
Ordained.  But  many  more  were  the  discourage- 
ments to  be  met  by  this  young  man  in  entering 
tlie  Ministry  of  a  Church  where  so  often  lias  been 
deplored  the  lack  of  colored  clergy.  A  mistake 
had  been  made  in  registering  Mr.  Bishop's  name 
at  the  time  lie  applied  to  Bishop  Whittingham  as 
Postulant.  Although  the  name  had  been  correct-. 
ly  reported  at  conventions  during  the  three  years  he 
was  a  candidate,  there  was  a  delay  of  some  months 
until  the  Standing  Committee  should  satisfy 
themselves  that  Hntchens  Ciiew  Bishop  was  the 
same  person  as  Hutchens  Smith  Bishop.  In  the 
meantime  he  quietly  taught  the  school,  having 
succeeded  Mr.  Quin.  After  their  next  meeting  it 
somehow  transpired  that  no  action  had  been  taken 
upon  the  papers  which  had  appeared  to  be  at  fault 
only  in  this  confusion  of  name.     They  were  care- 


aiie  Scliools.  103 


fully  drawn  in  the  prescribed  form,  the  one  signed 
as  the  Canon  directed  by  the  Eector  and  Vestry  of 
Mount  Calvary  Church,  the  parish  from  which 
Mr.  Bishop  went  to  the  Seminary  ;  the  other  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Hodges,  Rector  of  S.  Paul's  Church, 
and  by  the  Rev.  Di-.  Richey,  Prof,  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  in  the  General  Seminary.  In  response  to 
Mr.  Bishop's  inquiries  addressed  to  the  Standing 
Committee  tlirongh  their  Secretary,  it  could  only 
be  learned  that  tlie  testimonials  Avere  *'not  satis- 
factory." "N^o  hint  could  be  obtained  how  they 
could  be  made  satisfactory,  or  in  what  respect  they 
were  not  already  so.  Nor  were  inquiries  address- 
ed to  Bishop  Pinkney  more  successful.  He  re- 
plied, "1  am  not  admitted  to  their  council  board. 
All  that  I  know  is  what  you  know  full  as  well.'' 
Subsequent  events  seemed  to  exonerate  the  Bishop 
from  any  desire  on  his  own  part  to  block  Mr. 
Bishop's  way.  The  Bishop  had  expressed  an  affec- 
tionate interest  in  his  course  at  an  earlier  stage. 
He  had  always  known  and  esteemed  his  father  and 
his  grandfather  before  him.  He  wrote,  in  reply  to 
a  respectful  but  earnest  appeal  from  Mr.  Bishop's 
father,  *'I  truly  sympathize  with  you  in  your  dis- 
appointment, and  regret  that  the  Stancling  Com- 
mittee felt  obliged  to  so  act,  and  would  do  any- 
thing in  my  power  to  gratify  you  in  this  or  any 
other  matter,  for  I  have  much  regard  for  you  and 
your  father,  and  remember  most  pleasantly  his  con- 
stant kindness  to  me  in  years  gone  by.  But," 
he  added,  "  I  cannot  do  any  tiling  to  promote  your 


104  ©BDcltJe  ^cars  ^mong  t\)c  Coloreb  |)cople. 

wishes  in  tliis  matter."  The  Bishop  liad  shown 
mucli  interest  in  the  work  of  S.  Mary's  itself,  had 
himself  handsomely  contributed  to  its  erection,  and 
when  it  was  nearly  completed,  one  night,  after  a 
service  held  there,  while  quietly  smoking  in  the 
study  of  our  Clergy  House,  had  experienced  much 
gratification  at  the  part  the  colored  people  had 
themselves  taken  in  building  the  church.  Amused 
at  hearing  of  a  friendly  rivalry  between  the  two 
wardens,  one  of  Avhom  was  earnestly  collecting 
funds  to  put  glass  in  one  of  the  large  transept 
windows  then  filled  with  muslin,  because  the  win- 
dow on  the  side  where  the  senior  warden  usually 
sat  was  already  filled,  the  Bishop  promptly  said, 
"  Tell  your  Avarden  to  give  the  money  he  has  col- 
lected toward  the  debt  on  the  building.  I  will 
send  you  $50  with  which  to  put  in  the  glass." 
When  after  his  Ordination  to  the  Priesthood  in 
another  Diocese  Mr.  Bishop  sought  readmission  to 
Maryland,  the  Bishop  received  him  without  any 
hesitation,  and  the  last  official  communication  with 
the  Priest  in  charge  of  S.  Mary's  was  a  letter  to 
carry  to  Europe.  It  is  so  pleasant  to  remember 
as  his  last  act  after  all  that  had  passed,  that  it  is 
given  here  in  order  to  do  full  justice  to  the  Bish- 
op's kind  heart  and  courtesy. 

Washington,  D.  C,  U.  S.  A. 

March  6,  1883. 

The  Rev.  Calbraith  B.  Perry  is  a  Presbyter  of  the  Diocese 

of  Maryland,  and  at  this  time  associated  with  the  work  of 

Mount  Calvary  Church  in  the  city  of  Baltimore.     He  is  a 


aiic  Scliools.  105 

gentleman  of  fine  culture,  able,  and  of  fervid  zeal,  and  is 
highly  esteemed  for  his  many  virtues,  and  by  no  one  more 
than  myself.     Any  civility  shown  to  him  during  his  sojourn 
abroad  will  be  regarded  as  a  personal  favor  to  me. 
William  Pinkney, 

Bishop  of  Maryland. 
[seal] 

Although  this  letter  drew  a  picture  which  was 
quite  an  objection  in  using  it,  lest  the  contrast 
with  the  original  should  become  too  conspicuous, 
yet  its  kind  expressions  could  not  but  be  prized  by 
the  possessor  as  a  proof  that  its  writer  had  no  such 
personal  feeling  toward  him  or  his  work  as  some 
were  wont  to  intimate.  The  fact  seemed  simply 
to  be  (so  far  as  the  Bishop  was  concerned),  that  he 
had  no  information  in  regard  to  the  action  of  the 
Standing  Committee  Avhatsoever — although  the 
secretary  of  that  committee  had  referred  Mr.  Bishop 
to  the  Bishop  "  to  learn  from  him  what  the  Standing 
Committee  had  done — the  reason  for  their  action — 
and  what  he  (Mr.  B.)  was  to  do" — and  that  with  his 
peculiar  notions  as  to  the  sovereign  powers  of  the 
Standing  Committee,  he  felt  neither  liberty  to  act 
nor  to  inquire  into  their  action.  Although  he 
showed  irritation  when  further  pressed,  and  utterly 
refused  to  advise  his  candidate  what  to  do,  there 
was  nothing  in  his  action  which  could  be  construed 
as  unfriendly  to  Mr.  Bishop. 

While  some  were  confident  that  the  real  reason 
which  the  Standing  Committee  kept  as  impene- 
trable a  mystery  as  the  Egyptian  Sphinx,  was  an 


lOG  (Jroclre  JDeors  'i^mong  tl}e  Colorcb  |)eoplc. 

unwillingness  to  receive  the  signatures  of  the  clergy 
who  had  signed  the  papers — owing  to  so-called 
Ritualistic  tendencies — ohters  believed  that  the 
question  of  color  was  the  real  one.  Some  of  the 
oldest  Maryland  clergy  not  immediately  interested 
in  the  matter  have  always  maintained  this  opinion. 
But  in  a  question  which  clad  itself  in  such  Eleusinian 
secrecy,  and  which  has  ceased  to  be  of  any  practical 
interest,  it  is  perhaps  best  not  to  waste  conjecture. 
Sufficif'nt  has  been  said  to  explain  a  strong  and 
intense  feeling  of  indignation  and  suspicion  of 
offended  rights  on  the  part  of  S.  Mary's  congrega- 
tion and  the  colored  people  generally.  This  found 
expression  in  resolutions  adopted  at  a  meeting  of 
the  colored  people,  which,  however,  called  forth  no 
more  response  than  the  previous  communications. 
The  belief  has  remained  deeply  rooted  in  the  mind 
of  the  colored  peo[)le  throughout  the  city.  The  fact 
has  been  gleefully  proclaimed  by  those  hostile  to 
the  Church,  and  who  are  glad  to  argue  that  she 
was  too  aristocratic  to  wish  to  admit  the  Negro. 

The  difficulty  itself  was  solved  by  the  kindness 
of  the  Bishop  of  Albany,  who  received  Mr.  Bishop 
into  his  diocese  !:)y  letter  of  transfer  from  Bishop 
Pinkney.  He  was  ordained  on  Sundaj,  April  3d, 
by  Bishop  Doane,  in  his  cathedral,  the  very  same 
papers  that  the  Maryland  Standing  Committee  had 
declined  to  pass  having  been  approved  by  the  Stand- 
ing Committee  of  Albany.  Sunday  evening  ho 
preached  by  invitation  of  the  Rev.  Di-.  Harrison,  at  S. 
Paul's  Church,  Troy.     The  cordial  hospitality  he 


QLl)e  Schools.  107 


received  at  both  the  Episcopal  residence  and  at 
Dr.  Harrison's,  tlie  presence  of  his  friends  and  rel- 
atives and  the  kindly  words  of  sympathy  of  emi- 
nent laymen  of  that  Hne  old  city  did  much  to  re- 
lieve him  of  the  feeling  of  being  an  outcast  from  a 
diocese  he  had  loved,  and  in  Avhich  witli  filial 
loyalty  he  desired  to  labor.  For  a  time  Mr.  Bishop 
served  parislies  in  the  northern  part  of  New  York, 
by  his  Bisliop's  appointment.  But  the  difficulties 
of  longer  supplying  his  place  in  S.  Mary's  Boys' 
Academy  caused  Bishop  Doane  to  send  him  to 
finish  out  the  term  of  his  diaconate  in  Baltimore, 
and  while  not  permitted  to  officiate  ministerially, 
he  resumed  his  school  duties.  Although,  after 
his  ordination  to  the  priesthood,  he  was  received 
by  the  Bishop  of  Maryland,  enough  had  occurred 
to  account  for  his  hesitation  about  remaining  per- 
manently in  the  diocese.  The  difficulties  of  a  young 
colored  clergyman  starting  out  to  work  among  his 
race,  with  tiie  natural  suspicion  encountered  from 
both  white  and  colored  people,  the  difficulty  of  any 
young  man  doing  priestly  work  in  a  congregation 
where  he  had  grown  up  as  a  boy,  even  if  always 
respected,  as  it  was  universally  allowed  Mr.  Bishop 
had  been,  were  greatly  increased  in  his  case  by  the 
additional  difficulties  we  have  narrated.  The 
school  during  these  delays  and  changes  had  suf- 
fered and  Mr.  Bishop  found  the  task  of  building 
it  up  less  agreeable  than  he  had  anticipated.  1'he 
Mission  in  South  Baltimore,  of  which  he  took  spe- 
cial charge,  struggled  on  with  few  friends  and  en- 


108  ^melvc  ^cax5  QVntong  tl)c  Colored  J)eo:ple. 

conragements.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
after  remaining  to  assist  in  tlie  work  while  the 
priest  in  charge  took  a  holiday  in  Europe,  he  after- 
ward, with  the  regretful  but  full  consent  of  the 
latter,  accepted  a  call  to  Charleston,  and  has  suc- 
ceeded at  S.  Marks  his  old  friend  at  Columbia, 
Mr.  Saltus,  who  has  been  cut  off  in  the  beginning 
of  a  promising  and  meritorious  career.  At  Charles- 
ton Mr.  Bishop  has  received  a  welcome  that  well 
accords  with  the  long-established  reputation  of  the 
congregation  to  which  he  has  gone,  and  so  another 
fledgeling  has  floM  n  from  the  ecclesiastical  nest  at 
S.  Mary's,  and  is  the  fourth  of  the  clergy  who 
may  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  be  claimed  as  her 
offspring. 

Hardly  more  brief  could  have  been  made  the 
details  of  a  painful  chapter  of  the  history  of  S. 
Mary's,  too  intimately  connected  with  her  strug- 
gles to  be  omitted.  The  Academy  in  the  mean- 
time had  suffered  from  these  changes.  For  years 
it  had  been  Avith  difficulty  kept  waiting  for  Mr. 
Bishop's  return.  It  had  in  the  meantime  not  been 
without  advantages.  The  Rev.  George  B.  Johnson, 
of  "S.James's  African  Church,"  of  Baltimore,  a 
teacher  formerly  of  S.  Paul's  School,  Concord,  had 
given  his  services  as  instructor  in  some  of  the 
higher  branches.  Tiie  clergy  of  the  parish  were 
also  instructors  in  the  school,  and  Mr.  Perry  D. 
Robinson,  a  young  colored  graduate  of  the  admira- 
ble "Institution  for  the  Education  of  Colored 
Youth  "  in  Philadelphia,  had  been  employed,  first 


Qi^c  Schools.  109 


as  ]\Ir.  Bishop's  substitute,  then  ns  his  assistant. 
On  Mr.  Bishop's  leaving  for  Charleston,  Mr.  Rob- 
inson became  Principal.  He  was  universally  es- 
teemed by  clergy  and  people,  and  thoroughly  satis- 
factory as  a -teacher.  But  the  load  of  carrying  on 
this  school  had  become  too  great  for  the  slioulders 
of  the  clergy,  or  perhaps,  from  continual  "  belabor- 
ing," their  shonlders  had  begun  to  weaken.  A 
few  months  after  Mr.  Bishop's  departure,  the  other 
assistant,  the  Rev.  J.  0.  Davis,  was  obliged  to 
withdraw  his  valuable  services,  and  his  place  could 
only  be  temporarily  filled.  This  crippled  the  task 
of  maintaining  a  school  for  which  constant  appeals 
for  funds  were  necessary,  and  which,  calling  forth 
little  enthusiasm  from  white  or  colored  people, 
seemed  Herculean. 

The  lower  departments  were  handed  over  to  the 
Sisters,  and  are  still  continued  in  the  basement  of 
the  church.  The  house  on  Biddle  Street  was 
given  up.  The  few  older  boys  who  remained  were 
removed  to  the  choir-room  of  the  church,  where 
Mr.  Robinson,  under  great  difficulties,  completed 
the  year  for  which  he  was  engaged.  On  the  16tli 
of  June,  1884,  the  scholars,  joined  by  former  pupils 
who  had  been  under  Mr.  Robinson's  instruction, 
met  with  their  parents  and  friends  in  the  basement 
of  the  church  for  farewell  exercises  and  a  straw- 
berry treat.  It  was  made  as  happy  an  affair  as 
possible,  but  it  was  necessarily  Avith  regret  and 
sadness  that  a  work  on  which  so  much  labor  had 
been  spent,  so  many  hopes  builded.  was  now  sus- 


110  ^vjclve  ^caxQ  ^tnong  ll}e  (Jlolor^b  People. 

ponded.  Especially  did  it  cause  pain  to  part  -wilh 
Mr.  Eobinson,  whose  influence  for  good  among  the 
young  men  of  our  work  hud  been  very  marked  in 
addition  to  his  excellence  as  a  teacher.  After 
original  essays  from  Masters  Blay  and  Owens, 
readings  by  Masters  Berkly  Waller  and  Francis, 
nnd  a  dialogue  by  Masters  Francis,  Bright  and 
Thomas,  and  a  "  Spelling  Bee,"  a  copy  of  Shake- 
speare was  presented  to  Mr.  Eobinson  with  a  little 
farewell  speech  by  Master  Edward  Adams,  which, 
as  the  last  production  of  the  school  (and  it  is  given 
just  as  written  by  him  without  aid  or  correction), 
may  appropriately  close  the  history  of  S.  Mary's 
Boys'  Academy  : 

"  It  devolves  upon  me  to  offer  you,  in  the  name 
of  the  liector  and  pupils  of  S.  Mary's  Boys'  Acad- 
emy and  their  friends,  a  slight  token  of  their  es- 
teem and  regard.  To  myself  it  is  a  source  of  great 
pleasure  to  be  made  their  mouth-piece  on  this  occa- 
sion. I  am  not  now  addressing  you  as  our  teacher, 
but  as  our  friend,  our  dear  trusted  friend  and  very 
much-tried  friend — for  how  often  have  we  not 
tried  your  temper  and  your  forbearance. 

''  Dear  teacher,  we  will  ever  keep  your  name  en- 
shrined in  our  hearts,  and  shall  look  back  to  this 
school  not  as  an  abode  of  penance,  but  rather  of 
pleasure,  since  your  kindness  and  amiability  have 
so  rendered  it,  our  studies  having  been  illuminated 
by  your  patient  graciousness. 

'•'The  little  gift  we  offer  you  is  of  no  intrinsic 
value,  but  it  is  rich  in  love,  gratitude  and  respect. 


ai)^  Scliools.  Ill 


Please  accept  it,  and  with  it  onr  united  hopes  that 
your  life  will  ever  be  as  happy  as  you  have  made 
ours." 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  chant  a  coronach  over 
this  school.  It  accomplished  much  that  we  trust 
lias  entered  into  the  permanent  life  of  S.  Mary's. 
The  portions  of  the  schools  still  conducted  by  the 
Sisters,  schools  of  about  200  pupils,  are  successful, 
and  at  least  give  the  most  necessary  parts  of  edu- 
cation. We  should  have  been  glad  to  have  contin- 
ued the  more  advanced  schools  for  boys  and  for 
girls,  but  they  were  burdens  we  could  not  longer 
carry.  Had  they  been  sustained  as  they  deserved 
to  be,  they  would  still  be  in  existence. 

But  neither  will  we  have  the  discontinuance  of 
the  school  interpreted  as  a  change  of  conviction  as 
to  its  need.  Some  one  will  yet  take  up  this  work 
in  Baltimore  and  make  it  a  success.*  Two  insti- 
tutions are  greatly  needed,  and  if  the  Church  is 
wise,  either  as  general  or  diocesan  institutions  or 
by  co-operation  of  the  city  parishes — for  it  is  too 
much  to   expect  of   any  one — she   will  establish 

*  Since  the  above  lines  were  written  we  learn  that  the  Or- 
der of  S.  Joseph,  of  which  our  former  assistant  Kev.  A.  B. 
Leeson  is  now  Provincial,  has  opened  for  colored  young  men 
in  Baltimore  such  an  academy  as  we,  for  lack  of  support,  have 
abandoned.  We  can  only  wish  for  the  Roman  Church,  as 
for  all  who  are  ready  to  labor  for  a  people  who  so  greatly  need 
the  efforts  of  all,  the  success  their  efforts  deserve.  Her 
work  is  not  accustomed  to  be  abandoned  for  lack  of  means; 
but  is  it  not  a  disgrace  that  our  own  Church  is  not  in  the 
field  ? 


113  (Jtodoe  ^ears  ^mong  tl)e  Coloreb  J)eopU. 

tliem,  and  thus  gain  the  inflnence  among  the  col- 
ered  people  Avhich  will  result.  One  is  an  indus- 
trial school  where  girls  can  learn  house-work, 
needle-work  and  laundry-work.  Nothing  can  be 
more  important  to  the  white  people,  as  well  as  to 
the  colored.  Thus  will  be  trained  honest,  indus- 
trious and  skillful  household  servants,  seamstresses 
and  laundresses. 

The  second  is  such  an  academy  as  it  was  attempt- 
ed to  establish  in  connection  with  S.  Mary's.  One 
for  girls  would  be  useful.  For  boys  it  is  greatly 
needed.  Here  would  be  gathered  from  all  quarters 
under  church  instruction  the  most  intelligent 
representatives  of  their  people — those  who  were 
studying  for  special  departments,  as  law  or  medi- 
cine, or  mechanical  pursuits,  or  fitting  for  higher 
colleges.  From  them  would  grow  up  influential 
laymen,  and  from  among  them  the  Church  would 
be  likely  to  cull  the  best  material  to  send  to  her 
seminaries.  The  constant  demand  is  made  for 
more  colored  clergy.  But  how  and  where  are  they 
to  get  their  education?  The  last  General  Con- 
vention emphatically  refused  to  amend  the  Canons 
so  as  to  lower  the  required  intellectual  standard 
for  the  priesthood.  Such  an  amendment  was 
strongly  urged  by  the  Sewanee  Conference  of 
Southern  Bishops  and  Clergy.  But  many  who 
labor  among  the  colored  people,  and  the  writer 
among  that  number,  and  the  great  majority  if  not 
all  of  the  colored  clergy  themselves,  believe  that 
such  an  opening  of  the  door  to  an  illiterate  Priest- 


aije  0cl)ools.  113 


hood  would  be  fatal  to  the  Church's  work  among 
them. 

But  to  keep  this  door  of  a  "  short  cut"  to  the 
ministry  carefully  closed,  yet  to  give  no  aid  to 
enter  by  the  regular  way,  is  cruel  and  unjust. 
From  Mr.  Bishop's  case  it  can  be  seen  that  there 
is  no  bar  to  their  entering  our  seminaries.  An- 
other, Kev.  Mr.  Massiah,  has  graduated  from  the 
General  Seminary  since,  and  there  is  a  colored  can- 
didate there  at  present.  The  Philadelphia  Divin- 
ity School  has  graduated  several,  and  they  have 
been  treated  with  marked  kindness  by  the  Bishop  of 
Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  by  the  professors  and  stu- 
dents.*    But  where  are  they  to  get  the  requisite 

*  The  following  iuforraation  was  kindly  furnished  by  the 
Bishop  of  Pennsylvania  after  the  above  was  in  type.  Among 
the  names  of  the  colored  clergy  which  he  gives  appear 
several  of  those  who  have  been  exceptionally  successful. 
This  strengthens  our  position  that  educating  the  colored 
clergy  in  the  companionship  of  the  white  and  with  equal 
advantages,  is  the  best  means  of  insuring  their  success  : 

Episcopal  Rooms,  Philadelphia,  November  6,  1884. 

Dear  Mr.  Perry  : 

The  following  colored  persons  have  graduated  at  Ihe 
Philadelphia  Divinity  School  : 

Rev.  W,  H.  Josephus,  ordained  1871.  Died  Nov.  19, 
1873. 

Rev.  Joseph  N.  Durant,  ordained  1869,  Codington  Col- 
lege, West  Ind. 

Rev.  Henry  L.  Phillips,  ordained  1875.  Moravian  Sem- 
inary,  Jamaica. 


114  Qlvoclvc  ^eaxQ  ^tnong  t\)C  Coloreb  JJeoiile. 

dii3loma  to  be  admitted  as  candidates  for  priest's 
orders,  or  the  training  necessary  to  pass  the  re- 
quired "examination  of  literary  qualifications"? 
They  ask  for  no  ''dispensations"  from  the  canon- 
ical requirements  in  their  behalf — they  only  ask 
the  opportunity  of  acquiring  this  preparation. 

Writes  a  clergyman  of  a  Southern  diocese,  one 
of  the  most  earnest  and  self-denying  of  the  labor- 
ers in  this  field  of  work,  after  expressing  his  dis- 
sent from  the  action  of  the  late  General  Conven- 
tion : 

"  And  then,  Avhen  thus  blocking  our  wheels,  they 
promised  us  money,  and  talked  about  $50,000. 
Where  is  the  money?     The  only  sensible  course 

Kev.  Joseph  L.  Bryaut,  ordained  1879,  Lincoln  Univer- 
sity. 

Rev.  Peter  A.  Morgan,  ordained  1877,  Lincoln  University. 

Eev.  Paulus  Moort,  M.D.,  ordained  1882, 

Rev.  J.  Benjamin  Williams,  ordained  1882.' 

Rev.  J.  Pallam  Williams,  ordained  1882. 

Rev.  Alfred  C.  Brown,  ordained  1884,  Cambridge  Iligli 
School,  Mass. 

I  have  also  ordained  the  Rev.  W.  F.  Floyd,  now  in  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  and  last  June,  the  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Harper, 
King's  College,  London. 

I  have  now  in  the  school  a  colored  candidate,  William 
Adger,  who  graduated  two  years  ago  from  tlie  University 
of  Pennsylvania.  I  have  had  many  more  under  my  care. 
I  feel  deeply  for  this  class  of  men,  and  have  done  all  in  my 
power  to  elevate  and  cultivate  them.  In  some  cases  I  have 
been  greatly  disappointed  ;  in  others  greatly  comforted. 
Very  truly  yours, 

Wm.  Bacon  Stevens. 


^\]C  0cl)ools.  1J5 


in  the  work  would  seem  to  be,  if  colored  men  are 
to  be  educated  priests,  to  provide  for  their  educa- 
tion at  the  South  in  Ealeigh  or  elsewhere;  but 
when  you  demand  that  they  shall  be  educated  you 
give  them  no  chance.     Only  $400  could  be  raised 

for  Kaleigh.     What  shall  I  do  for  M ?     I  want 

to  get  him  into  some  school  at  the  North.  He 
ought  to  go  one  year  to  a  preparatory  school,  and 
I  believe  he  would  then  go  through  college  swim- 
mingly. You  great  'sticklers'  for  an  educated 
ministry  ought  to  show  your  zeal  now,  and  help 
forward  the  work.  What  institution  bids  for  him? 
Black  as  black  can  be!  Surely  somebody  will  take 
him  and  be  glad  of  the  chance!  He  must  get  a 
satisfactory  diploma;  nothing  short  of  Harvard 
will  satisfy  the  Standing  Committee,  though  a 
white  man  can  get  in  with  the  weakest  sort  of  an 
education!  But,  joking  aside,  can  you  help  me 
find  a  place  for  liim,  as  honest  a  man  and  as  ear- 
nest a  churchman  as  ever  went  upon  this  earth, 
but  the  sun  has  touched  him  very  harshh^  He 
learns  easily,  and  is  well  along  in  his  books." 

It  is  a  shame  that  the  Church  has  not  long  since 
established  several  well  endowed  institutions  to 
meet  this  need.  There  are  many  reasons  why  no 
better  place  could  be  found  than  Baltimore  in 
Avhich  to  locate  one  of  them.  But  the  reader  must 
not  be  Avcaried  with  their  enumeration. 

W^e  would  add  only  a  Avord  in  regard  to  one  or  two 
difficulties  in  this  matter  of  education  and  their  pos- 
sible solution.    It  must  be  confessed  that  the  char- 


IIG  QLvidvc  ^cax5  ^^mong  tl)e  C^olorcb  |)eopU. 

acter  of  the  younger  generation  of  colored  people 
who  have  received  the  advantages  of  education  is  in 
many  respects  extremely  disappointing.  As  they 
enter  upon  manhood  and  womanhood  they  betray 
a  great  distaste  for  labor.  Unwilling  to  take  the 
positions  that  their  parents  have  occupied,  of  house- 
hold servants,  they  do  not  show  sufficient  diligence, 
perseverance,  and  "push"  to  secure  or  retain  po- 
sitions of  a  more  independent  character,  even  when 
opened  to  them.  Great  half-grown  men  work  for 
a  little  while,  spend  all  their  wages  in  fine  clothes, 
pleasure  excursions  and  entertainments,  and  Avith- 
out  shame  are  content  without  contributing  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  household,  to  depend  upon 
hard-working  parents,  scrubbing,  Avashing  and 
toiling  in  every  way  for  those  whom  they  are 
rather  pleased  to  see  ''play  the  gentleman,"  and 
whom  they  foolishly  though  fondly  indulge.  The 
younger  generation  of  colored  people  of  the  best 
educated  classes  are  adopting  a  style  of  living  ab- 
surdly extravagant  and  utterly  beyond  their  means. 
A  young  girl  is  offended  if  her  gallant  does  not 
call  to  take  her  to  the  evening  entertainment  in  a 
hired  carriage.  The  style  of  dress  upon  the  street 
of  a  Sunday  afternoon  is  astonishing.  It  is  not 
that  it  is  in  itself  ugly:  many  of  the  colored 
people  show  great  refinement  of  taste  in  combina- 
tions of  color  and  form.  But  one  wonders  where 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  hard-working  mothers, 
who  strnggle  to  meet  the  monthly  rent,  and  some- 
times require  alms  to  enable  them  to  do  so,  can  find 


®l)e  Sclioolg.  117 


money  for  the  rustling  silks  and  brilliant  feath- 
ers, the  "nobby"  suits  and  glittering  ornaments. 
In  a  word,  there  is  a  general  tendency — not  without 
marked  and  praiseworthy  excejitions,  we  are  glad 
to  allow — to  extravagance  and  improvidence,  com- 
bined Avith  idleness  and  frivolity.  There  is  little 
appreciation  of  the  dignity  of  labor;  there  is  no 
true  ambition  by  persevering  industry  and  judi- 
cious economy  to  acquire  fortune. 

It  is  useless  to  seek  the  causes  of  all  this  in  the 
past.  They  can  be  found  without  looking  far. 
The  old  regime  of  slavery  "was  a  poor  teacher  of 
the  dignity  of  labor,  of  economy,  of  thrift,  of  am- 
bition, or  of  self-respect.  The  sudden  change  to 
liberty,  the  flattery  and  sentiment  that  have  been 
lavished  upon  the  "freedman,"  Avith  the  neglect 
of  his  real  advancement,  and  many  other  causes, 
combine  to  produce  the  condition  we  have  de- 
scribed. It  is  not  so  important  to  seek  its  explana- 
tion as  its  remed3%  It  is  of  the  greatest  imj^or- 
tance  to  white  and  colored  people  that  the  remedy 
should  be  applied,  and  at  once.  . 

With  Christian  people  it  scarcely  needs  to  be 
argued  that  the  first  requisites  are  a  thorough 
training  in  Christian  morals  and  the  grace  of  God 
to  form  and  strengthen  the  character  to  live  by 
Christian  rule.  But  Cod  works  by  and  through 
human  instrumentalities.  The  work  must  be 
done  not  only  by  the  colored  man — his  white 
brother  has  his  part  to  do. 

What  is  required  from  the  former  is  evident. 


118  StocltJe  l^ears  Qlmong  tl)e  Coloreb  people. 

They  must  continue  to  grow  manly,  brave,  ener- 
getic, ready  to  battle  and  to  win.  It  is  required 
of  all  people — especially  is  it  necessary  for  a  people 
struggling  for  existence  in  a  land  and  among  races 
like  those  of  the  United  States. 

But  in  this  they  need  help.  Indeed,  since  so 
large  a  portion  of  our  population  as  the  negro  ele- 
ment cannot  decay  and  perish  without  spreading 
corruption  and  death  about  them,  they  need,  if 
necessary,  compulsion.  If  need  be,  they  must  be 
spurred  on  in  the  race,  forced  by  stronger  wills 
until  their  own  wills  are  strengthened. 

But  it  is  easier  as  well  as  better  to  draw  than  to 
push.  We  may  push  them  to  the  wall-;  up  hill 
we  must  lead  them.  We  must  present  some  ade- 
quate incentive  if  we  would  see  them  struggle  up 
to  honest,  industrious  effort.  At  present  that  in- 
centive is  lacking. 

Some  will  reply,  Let  them  be  content  with  the 
position  they  have  ever  occupied.  In  the  first 
place,  that  position  no  longer  exists.  No  longer, 
as  in  the  days  of  slavery,  is  a  great  retinue  of 
servants  attached  to  every  gentleman's  establish- 
ment. New  spheres  of  labor  must  be  opened  to 
them,  or  perforce  many  must  remain  idle.  But 
were  this  not  so,  in  their  new  condition  of  freedom 
it  were  still  necessary  to  furnish  higher  incentives 
to  their  efforts.  You  cannot  dam  a  stream  with- 
out causing  it  to  stagnate  and  grow  putrid.  The 
artificial  barrier  of  slavery  is  down.  The  law  of 
mankind  in  unrestrained  freedom  is  progress.     Of 


®l)c  Scliools.  110 

course  the  greiit  mass  of  tlie  colored  people — as  of 
every  people — will  remain  iu  humble  positions. 
But  the  advance  of  those  who  struggle  to  the  front 
keeps  the  whole  body  in  healthy  motion.  The  ad- 
vance of  those  who  have  the  ability  to  struggle 
cannot  be  impeded  with  impunity.  But  at  pres- 
ent the  progress  of  the  colored  people  is  arti- 
ficially blocked. 

With  few  exceptions  (to  be  noted  hereafter,)  the 
only  fields  open  to  them  are  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry and  politics.  No  people  are  helped  by  the 
former  being  sought  for  the  sake  of  personal  ad- 
vancement. As  to  politics,  the  reader  may  prob- 
ably conjecture  how  elevating  is  the  eager  race 
after  the  few  political  prizes  with  which  both 
parties  cajole,  delude  and  coquet  Avith  the  col- 
ored race.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  anything  in- 
juring the  younger  generation  of  colored  men 
more  than  attention  to  politics.  Thrown  into  the 
excitement  and  temptations  of  a  political  cam- 
paign, they  are  flattered  and  bribed  with  delusive 
promises  to  influence  the  votes  of  their  people. 
This  end  accomplished,  they  are  left  to  wait  in 
idleness  for  the  fulfillment  of  promises  of  political 
advancement.  Generally,  they  wait  in  vain.  The 
few  prizes  distributed  among  them  are  for  the 
most  part  conferred  upon  the  most  unscrupulous 
and  unworthy,  since  such  can  be  most  "  useful." 

Nearly  all  other  avenues  of  honorable  advance- 
ment are  closed  against  them.  The  jealousy  of 
the  "trades  unions"  prevents  their  leai'ning  or 


120  dtoebe  ^ears  ^mong  t\]c  Coloreb  JJeo^jlc. 

practicing  mechanical  pursuits.  Trustworthy 
architects  and  contractors  have  told  us  that  no 
builder  would  dare  to  emj^loy  a  colored  carpenter, 
no  matter  how  satisfactory  and  respectable  a  work- 
man he  might  be.  Carpenters  who  have  attempted 
to  apprentice  colored  boys  have  been  warned  by 
the  all-powerful  '^ unions"  that  they  must  dismiss 
them. 

It  is  said  to  be  different  in  some  parts  of  the 
South.  Where  there  is  great  scarcity  of  white 
labor,  colored  people  may  find  it  less  difficult  to 
obtain  employment  in  these  pursuits.  Nothing 
breaks  down  prejudice  like  necessity.  Charleston, 
3.  C,  can  hardly  be  accused  of  being  deeply  im- 
bued with  "Northern  sentiment,"  nor  is  it  longer 
under  "carpet-bag"  control.  Yet  a  friend  there 
furnishes  the  names  of  a  large  number  of  colored 
men  in  important  and  lucrative  positions.  Not 
only  are  there  twenty-five  colored  men  on  tlie 
police  force,  but  one  is  a  lieutenant,  having  com- 
mand of  both  white  and  colored  officers,  and  is 
"  considered  one  of  the  most  efficient  officers  on 
the  force."  Another  is  a  magistrate.  The  largest 
dealer  in  fish  and  game  is  a  colored  man.  Five 
tailoring  establishments  (one  the  largest  in  the 
State,  the  proprietor  being  worth  about  1200,000), 
one  shoe  store,  one  cigar  manufactory,  are  owned 
and  carried  on  by  colored  men.  Three  wholesale 
and  retail  butchers,  two  workers  in  sheet-iron,  two 
house-builders  and  carpenters,  two  blacksmiths, 
two  wheelwrights,  four  cotton-shippers,  one  ship- 


^i)c  Schools.  1-21 

builder,  two  deep-sea  pilots,  two  companies  of 
masters  and  owners  of  coasting  vessels  (the  first 
owning  six  vessels),  two  others  owning  "fishing 
smacks,"  appear  upon  the  list,  while  others  are 
responsible  and  well-paid  clerks  in  drug  and  gro- 
cery stores. 

But  we  speak  of  the  condition  of  things  in  Bal- 
timore. No  colored  teacher  is  employed  in  the 
public  schools  of  this  city,  even  in  those  provided 
exclusively  for  colored  children  (yet  there  are 
16,000  colored  people  employed  as  teachers  in  the 
United  States,  some  of  them  surely  fit  to  teach  in 
the  public  schools  of  Baltimore).  No  prominent 
business  house  would  venture  to  employ  a  colored 
man  in  any  position  higher  than  porter.  They 
are  occasionally  required  to  do  the  work  of  ship- 
ping clerks  and  other  responsible  duties  on  account 
of  their  trustAvorthiness  and  experience,  but  with- 
out either  the  name  or  the  pay.  The  devil  is,  in- 
deed, less  fastidious.  Bur-rooms  and  gambling 
saloons  give  men  good  opportunities,  and  such  po- 
sitions are  eagerly  sought. 

As  we  have  said,  there  are  a  few  exceptions. 
They  strengthen  our  argument.  The  position  of 
public  caterer  has  ever  afforded  an  opportunity  for 
colored  men  to  acquire  a  competence,  and  some  of 
the  most  respectable  and  best  colored  men  of  the 
city  are  so  employed.  Four  keep  large  and  well 
patronized  "  provision  stores."  They  are  men 
regarded  by  their  people  as  leaders  of  integrity. 
Two  of  them  are  vestrymen  of  S.  James'  Church. 


The  late  John  Lockes  was  the  president  of  the 
Chesapeake  Marine  Eaiiway  and  Dry  Dock  Co., 
the  only  business  corporation  of  colored  men  in 
the  city.  He  died  worth  a  considerable  property, 
and  was  nniversally  liked  and  respected  by  his 
white  acquaintances  as  well  as  by  his  own  people. 
His  successor  in  office  (another  vestryman  of  S. 
James' Church)  is  a  man  of  like  character.  Tliese 
exceptional  cases,  as  well  as  some  few  others  who 
have  acquired  some  property,  as  barbers,  caterers, 
sextons,  undertakers  and  the  like,  are  among  the 
most  intelligent,  modest,  courteous  and  upright 
men  among  their  people.  There  are  too  few  of 
them  to  exercise  an  extensive  influence  and  coun- 
teract that  of  noisy  and  unscrupulous  politicians. 
Should  not  the  business  men  and  Christian  phi- 
lanthropists of  Baltimore  encourage  the  colored 
man  thus  to  become  a  thrifty,  honest  and  produc- 
tive element  of  the  community?  Only  by  throwing 
open  to  him  more  of  the  prizes  of  life,  only  by  fur- 
nishing a  worthy  goal  for  his  ambition  and  reward 
for  his  industry,  will  this  be  attained.  The  cap- 
italists who  would  establish  a  manufactory  of  any 
kind  where  colored  men  should  find  employment 
and  be  rewarded  with  honorable  positions,  as  clerks, 
accountants,  superintendents  and  the  like,  and  ul- 
timately with  an  interest  in  the  concern  when — 
and  on!}/  whoi — they  became  qualified  for  the  posi- 
tions, would  not  only  do  a  work  of  philanthropy 
and  patriotism,  but  also,  we  believe,  carry  on  a 
lucrative  business.       As   President  Haygood,  of 


®lic  Scliools.  123 


Emory,  well  says,  ''  The  first  thing  of  all  to  do  is 
the  simplest,  yet,  perhaps  the  most  difficult — clear 
the  way.  Remove  all  liinderances;  make  the  paths 
straight — not  strait;  give  him  the  best  chance 
possible.  If  all  this  were  done,  the  problem  would, 
by  and  by,  solve  itself.  To  do  this,  to  give  him 
this  best  chance  possible,  it  is  not  impossible  that 
some  of  us  white  people  of  the  South  must,  first 
of  all,  put  ourselves  through  a  course  of  schooling 
in  right  views  on  this  subject." 

Said  Senator  Brown  of  Georgia,  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  December  15,  1880  :  "  Under  the 
slavery  system  the  relations  were  kind.  When  the 
war  came  on  it  was  supposed  by  many  that  they 
would  rise  in  insurrection  and  soon  disband  our 
armies.  They  at  no  time  ever  behaved  witli  more 
loyalty  to  us,  or  with  more  propriety.  Since  the 
end  of  the  war,  when,  as  we  thought  you  very  un- 
wisely gave  them  the  ballot,  they  have  exercised 
the  rights  of  freemen  with  a  moderation  that  no 
other  race  would  have  done.  Therefore  I  say  it  is 
our  duty  in  the  South,  especially,  and  L  think 
yours  in  the  North  as  well,  to  encourage  them, 
and,  as  they  are  now  citizens,  to  elevate  them  and 
make  them  the  best  citizens  possible." 

Let  this  liberal  sentiment  prevail.  Give  the 
colored  man  a  fair  chance.  Discriminate  neither 
for  nor  against  him.  Either  course  is  an  injustice 
to  him.  Let  him  measure  himself  and  under  fa- 
vorable circumstances  discover  his  own  weight. 
Let  him  unhampered  rise  to  that  position  for  Avhicli 


124  ^xocivc  ^caxQ  ^tnong  l[]c  Colored  JJeople. 

God  intended  him,  nnd  be  sure  he  will  rise  no 
higher.  His  social  position  is  in  nowise  concerned 
in  the  matter.  Tlmt,  like  every  one's  social  position, 
will  take  care  of  itself.  He  only  asks  for  fair  play 
in  the  battle  of  life.  Well  says  Kev.  Dr.  JMarshall:  * 
"With  no  race  does  kindness,  forbearance  and 
justice  go  farther  than  with  the  negro.  Could  he 
as  a  man  receive  his  honest  dues — be  fairly  dealt 
with  in  every  i*elation  of  life — for  twenty  years,  he 
would  amaze  mankind  with  the  outcome  and  the 
improvement  of  which  he  is  capable." 

*  "  The  Colored  Race  Weighed  in  the  Balance,  being  a 
reply  by  C.  K.  Marshall,  D.D.  of  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  to  the 
speech  of  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Tucker,  D.D."  Dr.  Marshall  cer- 
tainly deals  some  heavy  blows  "straight  from  the  shoulder," 
not  only  at  Dr.  Tucker  but  at  our  Church.  In  regard  to  some 
of  the  charges  against  the  Church,  she  has  certainly  laid 
herself  open  to  them;  as  to  others,  he  would  no  doubt  speak 
more  gently  did  he  know  her  better.  Certainly  she  is  not,  as 
he  would  seem  to  represent  her,  the  great  exponent  of  an- 
tinomianism.  There  is  much  good  common  sense  in  his 
book,  and  valuable  testimony  from  one  who  evidently 
knows  what  he  is  talking  about,  as  well  as  very  much  that 
is  very  cleverly  and  comically  told. 


CHAPTER  V. 

S.MARY'snOME. 

Ox  the  south  side  of  Biddle  Street,  just  beyond 
the  Richmond  market,  stands  a  plain  three-story 
brick  house  only  to  be  distinguished  from  its 
neighbors  by  a  small  gilded  cross  over  the  door. 
On  the  door-plate  maybe  read  the  words  "  S.  Mary's 
Home."  Here,  unobtrusively  and  quietly,  is  carried 
on  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  departments 
of  our  work.  Ring  the  bell ;  a  sister  probably 
will  open  the  door.  Her  habit,  her  distinctive 
dross,  may  be  recognized  as  that  of  the  All  Saints' 
Sisters  of  the  Poor.  Two  of  these  sisters  reside  at 
the  house.  One  of  the  two  is  the  sister  in  charge 
of  the  work  carried  on  among  the  colored  people. 
On  entering,  you  may  encounter  another  sister, 
whose  dark  face,  beneath  the  neat  white  cap,  may 
be  a  surprise,  and  whose  habit  of  dark  blue,  may 
suggest  the  name  of  her  Order.  This  is  a  sister 
of  S.  Mary's  and  All  Saints.  When  S.  Mary's  was 
begun,  one  of  the  most  effective  instruments  of  the 
spread  of  the  Roman  Catholics  among  the  colored 
people  in  Baltimore  was  a  large  and  successful 
sisterhood  of  their  own  race.  The  mother-house 
of  the  Order  is  in  Baltimore.  Branch  houses  are 
established  in  several  cities  of  the   South.     Their 


136  (Jtoebe  ^cax5  QVtnong  tl)e  Colored  PcopU. 

visiting  from  house  to  house  has  been  the  means 
of  converting  large  numbers  to  their  communion. 
Their  care  of  the  sick  was  deservedly  praised  ; 
while  a  large  boarding  and  day  school  for  girls, 
receiving  pupils  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  fur- 
nished, if  not  in  every  respect,  a  thorough  and  use- 
ful education,  yet  an  attractive  one,  embroidery 
and  music  holding  prominent  places,  and  gained 
them  a  great  influence  not  only  in  Baltimore,  but 
tliroughout  the  laud.  It  was  felt  that  if  our  own 
Church  would  win  this  people  slie  must  not  be 
content  with  jealous  eye  to  look  askance  at  such  a 
power,  or,  in  idleness,  to  expend  her  strength  in 
loud-mouthed  lamentations  over  the  "spread  of 
popery,"  but,  giving  all  credit  and  well-earned 
praise  for  the  labors  of  others,  must  emulate  their 
zeal  by  using  similar  means  to  propagate,  as  we 
believe,  a  purer  faith  and  practice.  With  this  in- 
tent, the  establishing  of  a  colored  sisterhood  was 
undertaken,  and  in  the  year  1876  the  first  sister 
was  received  as  a  novice,  and  at  the  expiration  of 
her  five-years'  novitiate  "  professed  "  or  admitted 
full  sister — the  first  colored  sister,  it  is  believed,  in 
the  Anglican  Communion.  There  are  now  two 
full  sisters,  one  novice  and  one  postulant.  The 
growth  of  such  an  Order  is  necessarily  slow.  The 
novitiate  is  unusually  long,  that  it  may  give  time 
to  **make  full  proof  of  their  ministry."  There  is 
special  need  to  guard  against  its  becoming  an  asy- 
lum for  those  merely  seeking  a  home  and  support. 
There  is  often   need  of  further  instruction  than 


6.  mark's  ^omc.  127 

simply  in  tbe  "  rule  "  und  life  of  a  Sister.  It  may 
therefore  be  many  years  before  there  will  be  tlie 
number  needed  for  our  own  local  work,  to  saynoth- 
ing  of  responding  to  the  calls  that  already  come 
from  home  and  abroad  for  colored  Sisters.  Clergy 
Avho  come  in  contact  with  colored  people  could  do 
much  to  liasten  this  time  if  they  Avould  keep  the 
subject  before  them,  and  make  known  to  them  that 
there  is  such  a  sisterhood  where  those  may  be  re- 
ceived who  are  called  of  God  to  the  noble  work  of 
loving  self-sacrifice. 

But  only  the  threshold  of  the  Home  has  been 
reached.  On  entering,  to  the  lefc  hand  is  a  neat 
though  plain  reception-room.  As  one  rests  a  mo- 
ment before  going  over  the  house,  there  may  be 
heard  merry  laughter  and  noisy  shouts  through 
the  closed  folding-doors.  It  is  quite  possible  there 
may  be  sounds  quite  the  reverse  of  laughter,  and 
some  not  altogether  amiable  words  from  childish 
lips,  for  we  are  not  about  to  introduce  to  the  reader 
cherubs  or  the  ''good  boys"  of  Sunday-school 
books.  Bnt  there  they  are,  tumbling  about  in 
comfortable  yet  controlled  freedom,  a  dozen  or 
more  little  fellows,  most  of  them  Avith  curly  heads 
and  black  faces,  in  which  glisten  bright  eyes  and 
Avhite  teeth — the  younger  boys  of  the  Orphanage. 
Through  another  open  door,  if  it  happens  not  to 
be  during  school  hours,  will  be  seen  in  the  long 
yard,  which  extends  back  to  Howard  Street,  a 
dozen  or  so  of  the  older  boys  playing  with  their 
tops  or  Avith  ball  and  bat.     Here  are  sheltered  a 


128  QLviclvc  ^caxQ  ^tnong  ll)e  Colorcb  JJeople. 

score  of  little  colored  boys  from  four  to  twelve 
years  old,  otherwise  homeless  or  rescued  from 
houses  of  wretchedness,  clothed,  fed,  eduCiated  in 
the  parish  day  school,  and,  best  of  all,  lovingly 
taught  to  grow  up  as  Christian  men,  and  therefore 
useful  citizens.  How  is  this  institution  supported  ? 
is  often  asked.  Invariably  the  reply  has  to  be 
made,  ''We  do  not  know,  except  that  God  pro- 
vides for  it."  It  is  a  marvel  to  ourselves  that  the 
end  of  each  year  finds  the  Home  without  debt.  It 
is  a  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  "Dwell  in  the  land 
and  be  doing  good,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be 
fed." 

The  Home  was  undertaken  at  the  earnest  solici- 
tation of  the  colored  jaeople  themselves.  There 
was  no  shelter  or  orphanage  for  colored  boys  of  any 
description  in  the  State  of  Maryland  except  a  re- 
formatory institution.  It  was  said  to  be  not  un- 
common for  parents  or  guardians  of  children  left 
without  support  to  cause  them  to  commit  some 
petty  crime  in  order  to  have  them  sentenced  to  the 
Reform  School.  It  is  an  excellent  institution  for 
its  purpose,  established  and  superintended  by  char- 
itable and  influential  citizens  because  before  its 
establishment  there  was  no  place  to  send  juvenile 
colored  offenders  except  the  city  jail.  But  a 
reform  school  is  no  place  for  innocent  children. 
When,  urged  by  the  representations  of  the  colored 
people,  Ave  announced  our  intention  to  open  a 
Boys'  Home,  a  public  meeting  was  held  enthusi- 
astically indorsing  the  movement,  when  several  of 


0.  iHarn's  ^omc.  129 

the  colored  Methodist  ministers  and  other  prom- 
inent colored  men  made  stirring  appeals.  The 
yearly  rent  was  pledged  and  a  hearty  snpporfc. 
But  "out  of  sight,  out  of  mind."  Within  a  few 
months  nearly  all  the  subscriptions  failed.  The 
quiet  work  was  not  of  a  character  to  keep  up  an 
enthusiasm,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few, 
some  within  and  still  fewer  without  S.  Mary's  con- 
gregation, the  colored  people  show  little  concern 
about  its  necessities.  They  have  not  yet  learned 
to  encourage  movements  in  their  behalf. 

This  house  is  rented  for  1500  a  year.  The  rent 
is  partly  met  by  the  income  of  the  day  school,  the 
weekly  ten-cent  payments  from  each  pupil;  the 
Sisters  teach  in  the  school  without  other  remunera- 
tion. For  the  rest  of  the  rent,  just  as  the  prospect 
darkens,  and  the  time  that  it  is  due  draws  near, 
some  kind  friend,  most  often  unsolicited,  sends 
five  or  ten  dollars  to  the  Sisters'  relief.  To  our 
shame,  in  this  country,  be  it  said,  it  is  quite  as 
often  a  pound  from  friends  in  England  as  five 
dollars  from  those  near  home. 

Every  day  a  Sister  goes  out  with  basket  over  her 
arm,  through  the  markets,  and  into  shops,  and  re- 
ceives what  the  dealers  choose  to  give  her.  If  it 
were  not  contrary  to  their  traditions,  there  could 
be  pictured  the  English  homes  of  refinement,  and 
in  some  cases  of  luxury,  which  they  have  given  up 
in  order  to  come  to  a  strange  land,  to  live  in  com- 
mon as  Sisters  with  those  of  a  long  despised  race, 
to  be  as  mothers  to  fatherless  little  ones,  and  to 
9 


130  QLvoclvc  ^eaxs  QVmong  l[)c  Coloreir  JJeo^ile. 

live  upon  the  charity  of  those  who  fill  the  baskets 
which  they  themselves  carry  through  the  markets, 
and  from  door  to  door,  a  contrast  which,  in  itself, 
teaches  Avhat  self-sacrifice  the  service  and  love  of 
Christ  can  call  forth. 

To  the  credit  of  the  marketmen  be  it  said,  that 
however  slow  the  wealthy  are  in  being  moved  by 
this  example,  it  is  not  lost  upon  the  butcher  and 
greengrocer  at  his  stall.  The  basket  never  goes 
home  empty.  "With  a  cheery  smile,  one  after 
another  throws  in  a  chop  or  bit  of  steak,  two  or 
three  potatoes,  or  a  handful  of  fruit.  Except  that 
the  colored  people  themselves  give  one  or  two 
''pound  parties"  each  year  at  the  Home,  all  com- 
ing with  their  little  parcels — sometimes  a  larger 
one,  a  bag,  and  once  even  a  barrel  of  flour — as 
an  offering  to  the  good  Sisters,  whom  they  have 
learned  to  bless,  and  that  now  annually  a  Christ- 
mas offering  is  sent  in  paper  bags,  all  the  food  is 
obtained  by  this  daily  begging  of  their  bread,  and 
so  kind  has  been  the  response  that  there  has  been 
no  lack.  On  the  contrary,  ten  or  twelve  famished 
households  have  at  times  been  helped  by  the  Sisters 
from  what  they  have  spared  from  their  own  little 
store. 

But  as  the  work  increases,  as  more  Sisters  are 
added,  and  the  teaching  of  the  schools  and  visiting 
of  sick  and  poor  require  more  time,  it  will  be  al- 
most impossible  to  dejjend  solely  on  this  uncertain 
income,  especially  for  such  regular  expenses  as 
rent  and  fuel.     It  seems,  too,  a  great  pity  that  a 


0.  illarn's  i^ome.  131 

much  larger  number  of  children  should  not  be 
taken.  They  could  be  cared  for  with  compara- 
tively slight  increase  of  labor  and  money. 

The  time  must  soon  come,  therefore,  to  make  an 
effort  to  purchase  or  erect  a  suitable  building  for 
the  Home.  It  can  be  undertaken  by  the  Aveary 
work  of  gathering  small  sums  throughout  the 
couutry.  But,  oh!  how  many  toilsome  days  and 
anxious  nights  it  would  save  those  engaged  in 
the  work,  if  some  liberal  layman  or  laywoman 
should  be  moved  to  build  or  purchase  a  suit- 
able building  for  the  Home.  There  are  noble 
gifts,  like  Wolfe  Hall  and  ^hattuck  Hall.  There 
are  schools  and  orphanages  furnished  by  our 
Church  for  the  white  men  on  our  frontiers — for 
the  red  men,  for  the  Cliinese,  the  J\Iexicans,  the 
Greeks — but  the  names  which  Avill  be  ever  grate- 
fully remembered  by  the  colored  man  as  connected 
with  generous  gifts  and  institutions  established  lor 
his  improvement,  such  as  General  Armstrong  and 
General  Howard,  and  Mr.  Slater,  are  not  of  our 
OAvn  household  of  faith. 

Having  visited  the  dormitories — airy,  sunshiny 
rooms,  with  snug  little  cots,  which  are  covered 
with  bright  counterpanes — one  passes  down  the 
high  steps  of  the  Home  into  the  street.  Here  a 
Sister  leads  a  little  procession  of  boys  starting  for 
their  afternoon  walk,  or  on  their  way  to  school  or  to 
Church.  Here  comes  another  Sister  from  marker, 
with  well-laden  basket  on  arm,  great  mingling  of 
scraps  of  meat  and  various  odd  things  on  top,  red. 


132  Qixodve  ^mxs  ^mong  ti)c  €o\oxcb  |)cople. 

green  and  gray,  all  which  will  be  duly  sorted,  and 
make  dishes  not  unsavory. 

Behind  her,  two  of  the  larger  boys,  Charlie  and 
Berkley,  or  Albert  and  Tom,  drag,  like  a  goodly 
pair  of  prancing  ponies,  a  little  wagon — a  toy  with 
many  children,  but  here  serving  the  sensible  pur- 
pose of  carrying  for  the  Sisters  the  overplus. 
A  propos  of  Berkley  and  Albert,  we  must  close  our 
account  of  the  Home  with  two  episodes  connected 
with  its  life. 

Berkley,  a  quick-witted  little  fellow,  very  "light- 
complected,"  as  our  colored  friends  say,  enter- 
ed the  Home  with  an  older  brother,  not  only 
"bright  skinned"  (another  name  for  those  nearly 
Avhite),  but  very  bright  in  mind.  In  his  studies 
he  rapidly  outstripped  all  the  boys  of  his  age  in 
the  school.  After  a  few  years  he  was  too  old 
to  longer  remain  in  the  Home.  His  studious 
habits,  Avhich  had  quickened  his  natural  gifts,  as 
well  as  his  good  conduct  and  zeal  in  religious 
duties,  made  it  a  matter  of  regret  that  his  culture 
should  not  be  carried  further.  Kind  friends  in 
Oxford,  England,  offered  him  an  education  there, 
while  Father  Benson,  the  Superior  of  the  Society 
of  S.  John  the  Evangelist,  has  given  him  not  only 
a  home,  but  all  of  a  father's  care  and  interest.  A 
short  time  ago,  when  the  writer  saw  for  the  first 
time  the  graceful  towers  and  quaint,  crumbling 
archways  of  that  shrine  of  scholarshijo,  the  little 
fellow,  in  his  stumpy  silk  hat  and  funny  little  bob- 
tailed  coat  of  the  English  school-boy,  was  the  first 


0.  iltarji's  ^omc,  133 

to  welcome  liim  to  Oxford.  And  it  was  a  cause  of 
great  thankfulness  to  hear  that  not  only  did  he 
lead  in  his  sports  and  was  a  general  favorite  among 
the  sturdy  English  boys — for  his  being  colored  has 
no  other  effect  upon  his  companions  than  of  giving 
them  an  unusual  interest  in  him,  so  ignorant  are 
our  English  cousins  of  our  American  class  preju- 
dices— but  that  he  also  excelled  in  his  studies,  and, 
according  to  the  master's  testimony,  exercised  a 
good  influence  by  his  example  of  Christian  con- 
duct. So  has  started  the  first,  as  we  might  say,  of 
the  graduates  of  our  Home. 

Connected  with  Albert  Wahzhewakka  Morgan, 
there  is  a  more  dramatic  history.  It  was  Easter 
Eve,  1880,  and  around  the  font  at  S.  Mary's  was 
gathered  such  a  group  as,  probably,  has  not  been 
seen  upon  our  Atlantic  coasts  for  many  along  day. 
In  snowy  surplice  and  stole  stood  the  command- 
ing figure  of  an  Indian  priest.  It  was  the  Eev.  J. 
J.  Enmegahbowh,  the  first  "red  man"  ordained 
to  the  ministry.  Around  him  Avere  gathered  the 
clergy  of  S.  Mary's  and  the  little  surpliced  colored 
boys  who  acted  as  servers.  Before  him,  at  the 
font,  knelt  an  Indian  girl  to  Avhom  he  was  sealing 
the  name  of  Elizabeth  Amelia,  as  from  the  baptis- 
mal shell  he  poured  the  regenerating  drops  upon 
her  head  while,  at  the  rail  of  the  baptistery,  stood 
the  old  Christian  Indian  chief  Minnegoshig, 
the  English  Sisters  of  All  Saints,  the  colored 
Sisters,  the  young  Haytian  girl  whom  Bishop 
Holly  had   sent,    and   a  number   of  the   congre- 


134  ®tDcbe  |3cars  !^inong  tlje  (Eoloreb  People. 

gaiioii  of  S.  Mary's.     It  was  truly  a  Pentecostal 
scene. 

About  a  year  before  this  event,  a  ring  of  the 
door-bell  of  S.  Mary's  Home  had  startled  the  sis- 
ters at  a  late  hour.  On  opening  the  door,  a  lady 
stood  there  with  a  poor,  dark  and  downcast-faced 
girl  by  her  side.  A  dear  old  sister,  whose  sweet, 
Avrinkled  face  has  become  loved  with  almost  a  holy 
reverence  by  the  colored  people,  was  at  that  time 
in  charge  of  the  Home.  To  her  the  lady  said  : 
*'  We  have  brought  you  this  poor  Indian  girl,  sis- 
ter. We  found  her  a  homeless  wanderer  upon  the 
streets  of  Annapolis,  in  danger  of  falling  into  a 
degraded  life.  We  knew  not  what  to  do  with  her. 
We  have  brought  her  to  you."  What  could  the 
sister  do  but  give  her  shelter  ?  Yet  it  was  a  puzzle 
to  provide  for  her.  At  this  time  the  Home  was 
full  of  the  boarding  pupils,  of  whom  we  have 
spoken.  It  was  doubtful  if  the  girl  was  a  proper 
companion  for  them  ;  very  ignorant,  it  was  certain 
she  could  not  be  instructed  in  the  same  classes 
with  them.  It  was,  therefore,  with  some  misgiv- 
ing that  the  Sister,  in  the  morning,  informed  the 
chaplain  what  she  had  done.  Touchingly  she  told 
the  tale.  The  girl,  some  fourteen  years  before, 
had  been  left  on  an  Indian  battle-field,  one 
of  three  little  "papooses"  the  only  living  crea- 
tures remaining  among  the  bleeding  corpses. 
A  private  soldier,  finding  and  pitying  this  little 
thing,  took  her  home  to  his  wife.  For  some 
years  they  treated  her  with  great  kindness.     But 


S.  ittarjj's  ^ome.  135 

the  soldier  ■'  took  to  drink  "  and  in  turn  was  taken 
to  prison.  His  wife,  some  years  after,  followed  in 
the  coui'se  of  her  husband,  both  as  to  his  habits 
and  habitation;  so  poor  Elizabeth  was  homeless. 
What  could  the  chaplain  say  but  that  the  Sister 
could  not  have  shut  out  this  poor  gii'l  in  the  dark, 
and  that  somehow  we  must  make  room  for  her. 
Besides,  some  burning  words  of  Bishop  Whipple, 
while  the  chaplain  was  yet  in  the  Seminary,  had 
greatly  interested  him  in  the  wronged  red  man, 
and  he  has  ever  felt  that  those  words  have  done 
much  in  giving  direction  to  his  life.  Although 
God  has  seemed  to  send  him  with  the  gospel 
message  to  another  people,  yet  here  God  seemed 
directly  to  send  to  him  one  of  those  in  whom  his 
interest  had  been  first  awakened.  A  corner  was 
found  for  poor  Chatry,  as  she  had  been  called, 
and,  half  as  a  house  servant  and  half  pupil, 
she  was  carefully  taught,  at  the  same  time,  house 
work  and  the  elements  of  an  education.  Her 
nature,  at  first  somewhat  stubborn  and  wayward, 
and  bearing  many  marks  of  the  degrading  associa- 
tions of  her  life,  soon  yielded  to  the  gentle  teach- 
ings of  the  Sisters,  and  when  she  had  been  carefully 
prepared,  it  was  decided  she  should  be  baptized  on 
Easter  Eve.  Only  an  hour  before  the  appointed 
time  for  the  service,  the  chaplain  heard,  accident- 
ally as  men  are  wont  to  say,  but  certainly  prov- 
identially, that  an  Indian  clergyman  was  in  town, 
and  so,  hastening  for  him,  the  result  was  this 
deeply  significant  group  about  the  font. 


136  ^vitlvc  ^eaxs  C^niong  tl)e  (Holoreb  People. 

But  the  part  of  the  story  that  reads  most  like  a 
romance — yet  most  tonchingly  true — remains  yet 
to  be  told.  Enmegahbowh  and  his  old  chief  re- 
turned to  their  western  home.  Soon  Minnegos- 
hig's  only  daughter  was  taken  from  him  by  death. 
The  loving  and  sorrowing  father,  remembering 
Elizabeth,  in  whom  at  the  time  of  her  baptism  he 
had  evinced  a  lively  interest,  made  the  request 
that  she  might  be  sent  to  him  as  his*  adopted 
daughtei".  We  should  have  preferred  to  give 
her  a  more  thorough  training,  but  she  had  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  live  and  labor  among  her  peo- 
ple, and  now  God  seemed  to  open  the  way,  and  we 
dared  not  to  question  His  time.  The  Sister  in 
charge  accompanied  the  girl,  in  order  to  see  her 
safely  established  in  her  new  home,  and  was  cor- 
dially welcomed  and  entertained  by  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Enmegahbowh  and  his  wife.  One  can  easily  see 
that  there  was  much  of  a  trying  nature  in  Eliza- 
beth's new  position,  and  it  was  not  without  fric- 
tion at  first  that  she  adjnsted  herself  to  her  changed 
relations,  but  her  short  life  ended  in  victory. 
The  end  can  best  be  related  in  the  words  of  the 
Rev.  J.  A.  Gilfillan,  the  missionary  at  White  Earth 
Reservation,  in  a  letter  to  the  Sister  received  soon 
after  her  death  : 

"It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  tell  you  of  one  whom  you 
loved.  Elizabeth  was  one  whom  grace  had  ripened  for  her 
early  home.  She  was  always  gentle,  kind  and  good.  She 
was  perfectly  pure  in  her  life,  truthful  and  loving,  and  ful- 
filled every  duty  of  life  with  quietness  and  patience.     She 


0.  illars's  ^omc.  137 


took  care,  faithful  care,  of  several  sick  and  dying  persons, 
dying  of  consumption,  and  was  unwearied  in  watching  with 
them  ;  sometimes  being  as  far  away  as  sixteen  miles  from 
this  place.  There  was  a  quietness  and  loveliness  about 
her  disposition,  and  about  all  she  did,  which  endeared  her 
strongly  to  these  who  knew  her.  She  was  indeed  one  of 
God's  unnoticed  and  unknown  ones  ;  but  great  in  His  eyes, 
I  believe  and  trust.  One  consumptive  whom  she  faith- 
fully nursed  to  the  end  was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Mr.  John- 
son— '  Enmegahbowh.'  [After  referring  to  some  of  the 
misunderstandings  and  trials  to  which  we  have  alluded, 
and  to  her  falling  ill  while  at  the  "  Government  House," 
"  where  the  white  people,  good,  kind  people  took  care  of 
her,"  he  continues  :]  "  Thence  she  was  brought,  at  her  own 
request,  to  the  Bishop  Whipjde  Hospital,  adjoining  my 
house,  and  there  she  had  every  care  and  attention  that  love 
and  skill  could  devise.  Her  adopted  mother  came  to  see 
her  there,  and  was  with  her  much  of  the  time.  .  .  .  You 
will  see  from  what  I  have  said  there  were  some  painful 
passajres  in  her  life.  .  .  .  Those  things  did  her  no  per- 
manent harm — were  permitted  in  the  good  Providence  of 
God  and  worked  for  her  eternal  good.  She  never  regretted 
having  come  to  Minnesota.  Elizabeth  was  buried  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Church  of  S.  Columba,  by  the  side  of  her 
adopted  father,  who  had  always  been  remarkably  kind  to 
her,  and  where  the  white  people  will  lie  who  were  kind  to 
her.  Hoping  you  may  meet  many  such  lambs  in  Paradise 
as  the  one  you  were  permitted  to  train  and  send  out  here, 
and  with  prayers  for  every  blessing  upon  you  and  your 
work,  I  am  veiy  respectfully  your  brother  in  the  Lord. 

J.   A.   GlLFILLAN." 

One  such  record  as  this  is  enough  of  reward  and 
encoui'agement  for  those  who  have  labored  for  the 
Home  or  have  aided  it. 

On  her  return,  the  sister  expressed  a  lively  in- 


138  Qimc\v)t  '^cavQ  ^mong  t\)c  (floloreb  |)eo|)U. 

terest  in  the  red  men  and  sliared  with  the  chaplain 
the  desire  to  be  of  further  service  to  them.  Short- 
ly after,  the  latter,  in  a  conversation  with  the  Hon. 
Carl  Schurz,  then  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  ex- 
pressed his  readiness,  to  take  one  or  two  Indian 
boys  into  the  Orphanage,  which  had  by  that  time 
taken  the  place  of  the  boarding  school.  The  Sec- 
retary suggested  that  it  was  not  unlikely  that  the 
Government  would  be  glad  to  send  a  large  number 
of  them  to  the  Home,  in  which  case  there  would 
be  an  appropriation  made  for  their  support,  as  at 
Hampton  and  Carlisle.  The  undertaking  of  this 
more  extended  work  needed  further  consideration, 
as  it  would  require  increased  accommodation  and 
the  employment  of  a  greater  force  than  the  sister- 
hood then  or  now  could  furnish.  The  chaplain 
promising  to  refer  this  plan  to  the  sisters,  again 
assured  the  Secretary  that,  in  any  event,  one  or 
two  would  be  gladly  received  into  the  Home.  The 
latter  inquired  what  amount  would  be  expected 
for  their  support.  When  told  that  no  remunera- 
tion was  asked,  that  their  care  was  undertaken 
only  as  an  act  of  charity,  lie  exclaimed.  "What ! 
you  are  ready  to  do  this  without  pay  ?  You  are 
the  first  man  Avho  ever  entered  this  office  and 
wished  to  work  for  the  United  States  without 
being  paid  for  it.  You  certainly  deserve  to  have 
your  request  granted."  Some  months  later,  when 
it  was  feared  the  memorandum  of  our  offer  had 
been  lost  in  the  immense  files  of  papers  of  the  In- 
dian office,  a  telegram  was  received,  stating  that 


0.  iHanj's  iiomc.  139 

from  a  late  night  train  a  little  Indian  boy  would 
be  delivered  to  us.  He  came,  the  silent  little  fel- 
low, lie  was  a  son  of  an  Indian  interpreter,  whose 
dying  request  of  the  officer  of  the  U.  S.  Army  who 
stood  over  him  was  that  his  boy  should  be  brought 
up  in  the  white  man's  religion  and  the  white 
man's  ways.  So  a  second  time  did  God  seem  to 
send  us  one  of  His  little  ones  of  this  long-injured 
race.  He  was  adopted  as  a  ward  of  the  parish,  and 
each  year  the  children  bring  their  Sunday-school 
offerings  to  the  altar  on  Low  Sunday  for  the 
support,  at  the  Home,  of  little  Albert,  who,  we 
trust,  is  growing  up  to  be  of  future  service  to  his 
race. 

These  details  may  help  to  impress  upon  othei-s 
our  own  firm  conviction  that,  in  the  mission  work 
among  the  colored  people,  the  aid  of  Sisters  will  be 
found  of  the  greatest  importance,  if  not  absolutely 
essential.  As  in  other  work,  the  gentle,  tender 
ministrations  of  a  woman,  especially  when  devoted 
"wholly  to  such  work  and  hence  skilled  in  it,  will 
make  itself  felt  in  the  sick  room,  in  the  desolate 
home  of  the  poor,  in  sorrow  and  in  sin.  The  dis- 
tinctive dress  protects  them  in  alleys  and  courts 
which  other  women  may  not  enter  with  equal  safety 
and  propriety.  Above  these  advantages,  and  with- 
out speaking  of  that  other  highest  blessing,  which 
is  beyond  human  reckoning,  the  answer  to  the  fre- 
quent united  prayers  of  such  a  community  and  to 
the  loving  sacrifice  of  their  service,  there  is  another 
liffht  in  which  the  establishment  of  sisterhoods  is 


140  STujclue  ^eav&  ^mong  the  Coloreb  |)eople. 

of  inestimable  benefit.  While  the  exaggerated  ac- 
counts of  tl)e  universal  impurity,  dishonesty  and 
untruthfulness  of  the  colored  people  are  not  true, 
yet  as  Ave  have  already  admitted,  that  whatever  may 
be  their  characteristics  as  a  race,  their  previous 
condition  and  associations  are  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  fact  that  their  passions  are  ill-controlled  ; 
and  that,  among  the  more  ignoi'ant,  the  marriage 
tie  is  held  in  light  esteem  ;  that  untruthfulness  and 
dishonesty  are,  alas,  too  common,  and  that  still 
more  generally  they  are  marked  by  a  singular  ab- 
sence of  any  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  for  the  general 
good.  Now  the  establishment  of  well  ordered  and 
thoroughly  trained  sisterhoods  among  such  a  people 
is  the  lifting  up  of  a  standard  of  purity  and  self- 
sacrifice  which  cannot  fail  in  time  to  do  much  to- 
ward correcting  these  very  faults.  This  better 
type  of  life  becomes  familiar  to  them  in  the  daily 
ministrations  of  the  Sisters  in  their  homes,  in  their 
instructions  in  school,  in  Bible  classes  and  guild 
meetings,  while  the  integrity  of  the  life  itself  is 
protected  by  the  rule,  the  mutual  moral  support, 
and  above  all  by  the  life  of  prayer  in  the  commu- 
nity. 

This  influence  will  be  still  greater  Avhen  as  in 
the  case  of  the  sisterhood  Ave  are  now  describing, 
women  of  their  oavu  race  are  admitted.  So  it  has 
proved  Avith  the  colored  people.  So  it  Avill  doubt- 
less be  found  to  be  in  Africa,  China,  among  the 
Indians,  indeed  among  any  people  who  need  to  be 
lifted  to  higher  tone  of  life  and  morals. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OUR   FAITHFPL    DEPARTED. 

Mount  Calvary  Church,  which  has  taken  so 
active  a  part  in  the  defense  of  the  Catholic  prac- 
tice of  prayinc^  for  the  rest  and  refreshment  of  the 
faith fnl  departed,  has  laid  to  rest,  in  the  short 
space  of  eight  years,  three  of  her  priests  and  two  of 
the  sisters  Avorking  in  the  parish.  Believing  in  the 
communion  of  saints,  those  who  were  left  behind 
could  not  think  that  they  would  be  forgotten  in  the 
prayers  of  those  now  bronglit  nearer  to  God  in  the 
joys  of  Paradise.  Their  loss  at  the  time,  however, 
was  grievous  to  bear,  and.  the  interruption  of  their 
earthly  labors  added  to  the  many  difficulties  with 
which  the  work  they  loved  has  had  to  contend. 

This  record  would  seem  cold  indeed,  did  it  omit 
to  pay  some  tribute,  however  brief,  to  memories  so 
dear  and  to  labors  so  untiring. 

The  brave-hearted  rector  of  Mount  Calvary 
Church  under  whom  was  undertaken  the  work  of 
S.  Mary's,  has  already  become  known  to  the  reader 
in  the  preceding  chapters.  His  earnestness,  his 
manliness,  his  devout  tender  spirit,  fired  by  a  zeal 
that  might  well  in  his  case  be  called  a  consuming 
zeal,  have  doubtless  already  been  recognized. 

Joseph  Richey  was  one  who  from  early  boyhood 
exercised  a  controlling  influence  over  his  compan- 

141 


142  ^vjclvc  ^cax5  ^^tttonig  t\)c  Colorcb  JJcopU. 

ions  and  felloAV-workers  and  drew  to  liimself  de- 
voted friends  and  ardent  admirers.  His  enthusi- 
asm, his  brilliant  intellect,  the  positiveness  of  his 
convictions,  were  singularly  blended  with  a  wo- 
man's tenderness  and  sympathy.  Men  who  widely 
differed  from  him  respected  him,  and  those  who 
had  keenly  felt  his  reproofs,  loved  him. 

Mr.  Eichey  was  born  in  Newry,  County  Down, 
Ireland,  Oct.  5,  1843.  From  early  childhood  he 
was  disciplined  by  severe  trials.  At  the  age  of  ten 
he  was  brought  by  his  parents  to  the  United 
States,  and  in  1859  he  came  to  Baltimore  to  be 
educated  under  the  care  of  his  brother,  the  Eev. 
Dr.  Thomas  Eichey,  then  rector  of  Mount  Calvary 
Cliurch.  Later  he  was  a  student  of  S.  Stephen's 
College,  Annandale,  and  thence  went  to  Trinity 
College,  Hartford,  where  he  graduated  in  1866.  In 
the  General  Theological  Sen)inary,  from  wiiich  he 
graduated  in  1869,  the  friendship  between  himself 
and  the  writer  began.  He  was  loved,  respected 
and  admired  by  his  fellow-students,  and  took  the 
position  of  a  leader  among  them.  His  first  parish 
was  S.  John's,  Delhi,  N.  Y  ,  and  for  a  short  time 
afterward  he  was  assistant  at  the  Church  of  the 
Advent,  Boston,  which  was  then  under  the  charge 
of  the  Society  of  S.  John  the  Evangelist.  Thence 
he  was  called  to  the  rectorship  of  Mount  Calvary 
Church.  The  call  to  succeed  Mr.  Curtis  presented 
as  many  difficulties  as  attractions,  and  Mr.  Eichey 
made  a  condition  of  his  acceptance  that  his  semi- 
nary friend  should  be  associated  with  him  in  the 


dDur  i^aitl)fnl  ?Bcpartc5.  143 

responsibility  of  the  rectorship.  Tin's  was  cordially 
agreed  to  by  both  bishop  and  vestry.  The  two 
young  men  began  their  work,  and  were  soon  joined 
by  the  Eev.  Evelyn  Bartow,  who  continued  for 
nine  years  faithfully  engaged  in  the  work  of 
Mount  Calvary.  It  does  not  belong  to  this  work 
even  to  briefly  sketch  Mr.  Ilichey's  short  but  event- 
ful career.  His  monument  is  in  the  spiritual 
growth  of  the  congregation,  the  daily  celebration 
which  he  re-established  with  the  promise  of  the 
bishop  that  it  should  not  again  during  his  epis- 
copate be  interrupted  ;  in  the  beautiful  altar  he 
erected  ;  in  the  work  of  the  sisters  whom  he  invited 
from  England  ;  in  the  deep  conviction  with  which 
his  boldness,  sincerity  and  sound  learning  caused 
many  to  grasp  Catholic  truth.  These  ends,  how- 
ever, Avere  not  accomplished  without  great  wear  and 
tear  to  a  constitution  which  when  he  entered  on 
his  work  seemed  iron.  When  his  co-laborers,  as 
they  saw  his  strength  Avane,  suggested  a  diminu- 
tion of  labor,  it  resulted  only  in  his  taking  a  larger 
share  himself,  in  order  to  relieve  them.  In  addition 
to  his  pastoral  duties,  he  undertook  exhausting 
labors  in  a  girls'  school,  the  establishment  of  which, 
under  the  All  Saints'  Sisters,  was  the  darling  Avish 
of  his  heart.  In  the  midst  of  these  labors  came 
the  presentment  for  trial  for  alleged  erroneous 
teachings.  He  bravely  bore  the  attack,  but  none 
the  less  the  iron  entered  his  soul  and  deeply 
Avounded  him.  Great  nervous  strain  was  inevitable, 
even  when  the  attack  Avas  confined  to  himself  and 


144  ^rxtclvc  ^caxQ  '2,monq  tl)e  Colored  |)cople. 

his  associate.  When  the  bishop,  because,  as  he 
said  [Annual  Address,  Conv.  Jour.,  1875],  he  dis- 
covered in  the  articles  charfred,  neither  the  offence 
of  "advised  teacliing  of  doctrine  contrary  to  that 
of  this  Church,  nor  the  violation  of  ordination 
vows,"  refused  to  proceed  to  trial,  and  so  brought  the 
envenomed  attack  upon  himself,  Mr.  Kichey  felt  the 
bitterness  of  the  situation  most  keenly.  At  length 
the  strong  constitution  broke  down.  The  congre- 
gation, with  loving  haste  and  lavish  generosity, 
provided  means  for  him  to  seek  restoration  to 
healtli  in  Europe.  The  journey,  as  Bishop  Whit- 
tingham  Avell  expressed  it  in  his  address  after  Mr. 
Eichey's  death,  proved  to  be  ''  a  vain  effort  for 
recuperation  of  faculties  absolutely  worn  out  by 
inordinate  work." 

He  was  passing  up  tlie  Ehine  toward  Switzerland 
when  his  health  failed  rapidly  and  he  turned  back 
to  England.  He  barely  reached  London  in  time 
to  die.  The  end  is  thus  described  in  a  memo- 
rial sermon  preached  soon  after  his  death  by  one 
who  was  his  dear  friend  and  for  many  years  his 
spiritual  father,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Brand: 

"  To  the  knowledge  of  all  but  himself  he  was  dy- 
ing when  he  reached  London  on  the  evening  of 
the  17th  of  September,  and  yet  he  passed  away  un- 
expectedly. He  had  seen  his  one  personal  friend. 
Father  Benson,  in  the  evening.  About  six  the 
loving  mother  of  All  Saints'  Sisterhood  left  him, 
having  been  arranging  with  him  that  he  should  re- 
ceive the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  the  morning;  at  ten 


CDnr  iraitljful  JUcpartcb.  145 

he  sent  word  to  her  by  a  sister  that  he  felt  better. 
The  Eev.  Mr.  Briiickman,  chaplain  to  the  All 
Saints'  Sisters,  who  was  in  the  same  lionse,  Avas  with 
him  as  late  as  two  in  the  morning,  and  then  went 
down  to  his  room,  thinking  that  he  Avas  going  on 
as  nsual ;  but  at  five  he  gave  a  deep  sigh  and  passed 
away.  This  was  on  the  morning  of  S.  Matthew's 
Day. "  It  was  on  S.  Matthew's  Day  four  years  earlier 
that  he  blessed  S.  Mary's  Chapel  for  its  first  service. 

On  S.  Luke's  Day,  Oct.  18,  1877,  that  loved 
form  lay  in  its  oaken  casket  before  the  altar  of 
Mount  Calvary,  where  he  had  so  dearly  loved  to 
celebrate.  For  him  was  pleaded  that  Eucliaristic 
sacrifice  which  he  had  so  often  ofi'ered  for  others ; 
at  7,  8,  9  and  10  o'clock  at  Mount  Calvary,  and  at 
6  and  7  at  S.  Mary's.  At  noon  the  oi'der  for  the 
burial  of  tlie  dead  was  said,  and  then  the  long  pro- 
cession— the  longest  funeral  procession  many 
thought  that  had  ever  passed  through  the  streets 
of  Baltimore — followed  the  sacred  remains  to  S. 
John's  church3'ard  at  Wavei'ly.  The  words  of  one 
who  knew  and  loved  him  well,  the  Kev.  Dr.  Brand, 
in  the  sermon  already  quoted,  may  well  conclude 
this  tribute  to  his  memory : 

"  In  respect  to  all  teaching  and  practice  Mr. 
Eichey  was  guided  by  his  belief  in  one  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Church.  In  no  respect  had  his  the- 
ological principles  changed  since  his  ordination, 
and  in  all  sincerity  had  he  taken  his  vows  Avhich 
bound  him  to  "minister  the  doctrine  and  sacra- 
ments and  the  discipline  of  Christ  as  this  Church 
10 


146  ^xoclvc  ^ears  Qlmong  l\)c  Color^b  JJeoplc. 

hath  received  the  same.  Mr.  Eichey  was  emphati- 
cally of  that  school  which  calls  itself  Catholic. 

"  To  the  discipline  of  the  Church  enforced  by 
rightful  authority,  he  unfeig'nedly  submitted.  I 
was  with  him  in  attendance  on  the  sessions  of  the 
last  general  convention,  when  zeal  burnt  against 
the  'ritualists'  and  the  result  of  legislation  was 
feared.  He  at  tiiat  time  said  to  me,  '  The  conven- 
tion can  pass  no  canon  that  I  am  not  ready  fully 
to  obey.'  He  Avas  a  true  and  obedient  son  of  the 
Church,  which  is  yet  not  Avholly  conformed  to  the 
conceptions  of  one  who  cherished  the  life  and 
spirit  of  the  earlier  ages. 

''His  bold  maintenance  of  his  convictions  and 
his  spirit  of  obedience  to  rightful  rule  were  shown 
by  painful  circumstances,  which  forced  him  to 
meet  manfully  a  notoriety  from  which  his  nature 
shrank.  I  need  not  recall  the  facts,  which  are  but 
too  fresh  in  your  memory.  The  intended  trial  Avas 
averted  by  your  clergy  rightly  submitting  to  the 
godly  admonition  of  their  bishop,  and  promising  to 
avoid  what  had  been  an  occasion  of  stumbling;  yet 
without  abandoning,  and  Avithout  being  asked  to 
abandon,  their  conviction  that,  although  not  com- 
manded in  Holy  Scripture,  nor  distinctly  set  forth 
in  our  service  book,  commemoration  of  the  faith- 
ful departed  is  legally  observed  in  the  English 
Church,  is  clearly  a  primitive  usage,  and  one  famil- 
iar to,  probably  practiced  by,  our  Lord  and  His 
Apostles  as  JeAvs,  certainly  never  condemned  by 
Him  or  them. 


®ur  iraitl)ful  lUcparUb.  147 

*'Yoa  best  know  the  faithfulness  and  loving  na- 
ture of  his  private  efforts  to  lead  in  the  Avay  of  holi- 
ness. Of  his  entire  devotion  to  his  work — his 
Master's  work — all  are  cognizant.  In  labors  he 
Avas  abundant.  Your  clergy  will  tell  you  that, 
while  prompt  to  spare  them,  he  never  spared  him- 
self. I  myself  have  seen  him  later  than  two  o'clock 
taking  his  first  morsel  of  food  after  constant  labor 
from  six  in  the  morning — a  labor  so  Avearying  to 
the  body  through  the  spirit — and  this  at  a  time 
when  the  disease  which  cut  short  his  days  gave  him 
little  rest  in  sleep.  And  yet  his  complaint  was 
that  he  neglected  duties. 

"  One  so  faithful  to  others  could  not  have  been 
negligent  of  his  own  soul.  I  think  he  was  tender 
in  his  dealings  with  you.  1  know  that  he  was 
severe  in  his  judgment  of  himself.  He  was  as  hon- 
est with  himself  as  he  was  humble.  Save  one  who 
long  years  ago  left  me  to  mourn,  having  at  even  a 
much  earlier  age  reached  a  wonderful  spiritual  de- 
velopment, he  was  of  all  men  the  most  spiritual- 
minded  I  have  ever  known." 

Mr.  Eichey's  place  was  very  difficult  to  fill. 
None  but  a  single  man  could  become  the  senior 
priest  of  the  clergy  house,  and  rare  gifts  were  re- 
quired to  minister  to  the  much  tried  and  now 
deeply  afiiicted  congregation. 

No  motives  of  delicacy  would  excuse  the  writer 
from  acknowledging  the  kindness  of  the  vestry  and 
congregatiou  in  urging  him  to  accept  the  vacant 
rectorship.     The  fear  that  the  remembrance  of  his 


148  ®i»eb«  ^eaxs  ^tnong  tl)£  Colored  JJeo^ile. 

friend  would  continually  make  him  painfully  con- 
scious of  his  own  inability  to  fill  his  place  would  of 
itself  have  caused  hesitation  in  accepting  the  call. 
Other  reasons  strengthened  his  conviction  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  decline  it.  It  did  not  seem  right 
to  abandon  a  peculiar  missionary  work  to  which  he 
had  devoted  himself,  and  especially  at  a  time  when 
it  might  be  hazardous  to  turn  the  Avork  over  to  a 
stranger  unacquainted  Avith  its  needs.  He  declined, 
however,  not  without  regret,  especially  as  he  fore- 
saw til  at  as  the  work  at  S.  Mary's  increased,  the 
opportunities  of  intercourse  with  friends  he  dearly 
loved  must  grow  less  frequent.  Generously  appre- 
ciating his  motives,  the  vestry  continued  their  kind 
consideration  for  him,  and  extended  the  call  to  his 
intimate  friend,  the  present  rector  of  Mount  Cal- 
vary, tlie  Eev.  Eobert  Hitchcock  Paine.  Mr.  Paine 
had  been  formei"ly  invited  to  join  the  work  in  Balti- 
more by  his  friend  Mr.  Kichey.  One  may  eulogize  the 
dead,  but,  of  the  living, good  taste  permits  one  only 
to  say  that  the  writer  has  had  reason  to  remair. 
grateful  to  the  vestry  for  enabling  him  to  thus  re- 
new a  friendship  of  earlier  years  with  him  Avho, 
Avitli  sympathy,  untiring  energy  and  kind  consider- 
ation, has  sustained  all  the  efforts  at  S.  Mary's  in 
addition  to  his  faithful  and  arduous  work  at  Mount 
Calvary. 

A  previous  chapter  has  related  that  the  first  to 
join  the  clergy  of  Mount  Calvary  for  the  exp]"css 
purpose  of  assisting  in  the  work  among  the  colored 
people  was  the  Eev.  Alfred  B.  Leeson.    He  came,  as 


CDnr  f  aitl)ful  ?De|)artcb.  149 

all  the  assiskints  in  the  work  liave  come,  immedi- 
ately after  graduating  from  the  General  Theological 
Seminar}'.  He  had  been  with  us  somewhat  over 
a  year  when  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  post- 
poning his  ordination  to  the  priesthood  because  he 
had  thought  of  joining  the  Church  of  Rome.  The 
bishop  was  at  once  informed  of  the  fact.  On  being 
pressed  by  him  to  receive  priest's  orders  or  to  give 
his  reason  for  delay,  Mr.  Leeson  frankly  acknowl- 
edged his  doubts,  resigned  his  position,  and  soon 
after  made  his  submission  to  papal  authority. 

Nothing  could  have  more  seriously  threatened 
injury  to  the  Avork  nor  awakened  more  prejudice 
against  it.  The  excitement  over  Mr.  Curtis' seces- 
sion from  the  Church  had  hardly  subsided  when 
this  new  trouble  arose.  It  was  found  that  Mr. 
Leeson  had  been  in  correspondence  since  his  col- 
lege days  with  Dj-.  Stone,  a  recent  convert  to 
Eome,  and  that  friend's  influence,  and  nothing  con- 
nected with  his  life  in  Baltimore,  prompted  the 
step.  But  this  did  not  prevent  cruel  suspicions 
and  accusations  of  the  work  at  S.  Mary's.  Mr. 
Leeson  had  been  an  indefatigable,  earnest  worker, 
and,  as  he  deserved,  the  people  Avere  devotedly  at- 
tached to  him.  The  Sunday-school,  the  guilds 
and  some  other  departments  had  been  left  Avholly 
to  his  care.  It  would  not  have  been  strange  had 
many  followed  him,  especially  among  the  younger 
people  who  had  been  more  with  him  than  Avitli 
the  other  clergy.  Yet  neither  then  nor  since  his 
return  to  the  city  as  one  of  an  Order  especially  de- 


150  (Jtoeloe  ^caxs  ^tnong  tlje  Coloreir  |)eopU. 

voted  to  labor  among  the  colored  people  (so  far  as 
is  known),  has  a  single  one  of  S.  Mary's  commu- 
nicants joined  the  Koman  communion.  In  the 
meantime  no  inconsiderable  number  of  Roman 
Catholics  have  been  received  at  S.  Mary's. 

Fortunately  at  this  very  time  ayoung  relative  of  the 
priest  in  charge,  the  Eev.  Oliver  Perry  Vinton,  son 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Vinton,  of  Trinity  Church, 
New  York,  had  been  ordained,  and  having  for 
some  years  evinced  a  lively  interest  in  S.  Mary's, 
was  ready  to  decline  tempting  offers  in  order  to 
join  in  its  work.  Mr.  Vinton  had  graduated  at  S. 
Stephen's  College,  Annandale,  in  1873,  and  at  the 
General  Theological  Seminary  in  1876,  and  had 
been  ordained  Deacon  by  Bishop  Potter.  Although 
never  physically  strong,  he  entered  enthusiastically 
into  his  labors  in  Baltimore  without  any  sparing 
of  himself.  The  people  soon  became  very  much 
attached  to  him,  a  certain  gentleness  of  disposition 
combined  with  great  courtesy  and  refinement  of 
manner,  reached  their  hearts,  and  these  gifts,  with 
other  advantages  of  birth  and  early  training  Avhich 
would  have  made  him  an  ornament  in  society,  be- 
came the  means  of  Avinning,  Christianizing  and  ele- 
vating the  humble  people  to  whose  welfare  he  con- 
secrated these  powers.  Mr.  Vinton,  not  content 
with  his  share  of  work  at  S.  Mary's,  longed  to 
plant  seed  in  some  new  field  which  he  might  watch 
and  tend.  Although  it  was  feared,  at  the  time, 
that  his  zeal  outran  his  strength,  one  had  not  the 
heart  to  discourage  such  eifort.     A  mission  called, 


ODur  £a\t];)M  Wcpaxtch.  151 

at  the  bishop's  request,  Epiphany,  was  started  in 
South  Baltimore.  Many  of  the  colored  people  of 
that  quarter  of  the  city  are  very  poor  and  ill-housed, 
and  nowliere  are  the  ministrations  of  the  Church 
more  needed.  A  small  hall  on  Leadenhall  Street 
was  rented.  The  site  proved  to  be  not  well  chosen. 
The  clergy  lived  too  far  away  to  conduct  the  work 
effectually.  The  necessary  aid  in  the  way  of  money 
and  lay  help  could  not  be  obtained.  Mr.  Vinton's 
earnest  efforts,  therefore,  were  not  rewarded  with 
much  immediate  success.  This  did  not  cool  his 
ardor.  The  less  the  response  of  the  people  the 
greater  his  efforts  ;  until  his  spirit  of  sacrifice,  his 
patience  and  his  gentleness  began  to  win  them. 

Not  infrequently  when  an  evening  meeting  of 
young  men  had  been  appointed,  Mr.  Vinton  would 
find  that  the  sexton  had  forgotten  to  unlock  the 
door.  He  would  get  the  key,  and  himself  sweep 
out  the  room  and  light  the  fire.  At  other  times  he 
would  patiently  sit  upon  the  steps,  on  several  oc- 
casions in  a  drenching  rain.  Very  often  he  waited 
in  vain  for  the  expected  guests  (for  engagements  to 
meet  the  colored  people  are  most  uncertain),  and 
would  return  at  midnight  to  the  clergy  house  pale, 
weary  and  disheartened.  A  cold,  taken  on  one  of 
these  occasions,  first  revealed  disease  of  his  lungs. 
Mr.  Vinton's  ardent,  sanguine  temperament  did 
not  permit  him  readily  to  relinquish  his  work.  As 
neither  rest  nor  medical  skill  succeeded  in  check- 
ing the  ravages  of  tlie  disease,  he  at  last  went  home 
to  his  family  in  Pomfret,  Conn.,  but  only  to  die. 


152  StDclue  ^cars  C^mong  tl)c  Coloreb  |)eople. 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  June,  1880,  he  pain- 
lessly and  peacefully  passed  away.  At  his  own  re- 
qnest,  his  body  was  brought  to  Baltimore  to  be 
placed  by  the  side  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Richey,  Avhom 
he  had  greatly  loved.  After  a  celebration  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist  at  S.  Mary's,  the  bier,  preceded  by 
the  choir  ilnd  clergy  chanting  a  solemn  Miserere, 
"was  borne  by  S.  Mary's  Business  Committee  across 
the  street  to  Mount  Calvary.  Tiie  choristers  of 
Mount  Calvary,  and  such  clergy  as  had  vested  there, 
met  the  procession  at  the  gate  and  proceeded  into 
the  church.  The  burial  office  was  then  said,  and 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  service  a  long  funeral  train 
composed  of  both  Mount  Calvary  and  S.  Mary's 
choirs,  and  a  large  number  of  clergy,  white  and 
colored,  friends  and  relatives,  and  a  great  many  of 
both  congregations,  accompanied  his  remains  to 
Waverly,  where  sorrowfully  but  hopefully  he  was 
laid  to  rest. 

The  work  at  South  Bnltimore  was  for  a  time 
carried  on  Avith  great  difficulty,  but  on  the  death 
of  Mr.  Vinton's  successor,  there  being  no  assistant, 
it  had  to  be  abandoned.  It  would  probably  not 
have  been  resumed  had  not  a  lady  of  indomitable 
energy,  Mrs.  Robert  C.  Barry,  asked  that  she  might 
reopen  the  Sunday-school.  Almost  unaided  by 
the  clergy,  who  have  been  too  busy  to  afford  much 
help,  she  has  gathered  a  Sunday-school  of  125 
scholars,  and  one  day  in  the  week  has  held  a 
mothers'  meeting  of  thirty  women.  A  small  tene- 
ment was  rented  on  West  Street,  in  the  poorest  and 


CfDur  -faitl]ful  JBcpartcb.  153 

densest  populated  section,  and  the  Avords  "Vinton 
Memorial  "  were  placed  over  the  door.  In  every 
kind  of  Avoather  this  lady  has  been  at  her  post  of 
duty.  Even  during  the  Avinter,  Avben  small-pox 
Avas  raging  in  that  section  of  the  city,  although 
from  the  mission  house  seventeen  yelloAV  flags  could 
be  counted  on  the  neighboring  houses,  the  fear 
of  disease  did  not  keep  her  from  her  Avork.  The 
grateful  people  might  easily  have  been  gathered,  if 
proper  provisions  for  them  could  have  been  made. 
We  had  hoped  that  long  ere  this  some  generous 
churchman  Avould  haA^e  given  one  of  the  many 
vacant  lots  of  land  in  the  neighborhood  or  the  feAV 
hundred  dollars  needed  for  building  a  small  chapel. 
A  year  before  Mr.  Vinton's  death,  Avhen  it  be- 
came evident  that  he  had  no  longer  strength  to 
labor,  another  assistant  Avas  called.  The  Rev. 
Herbert  Baring  Smyth e  came,  fresh  from  his  semi- 
nary course.  So  full  of  enthusiasm  Avas  he,  so 
blessed  Avith  physical  strength  and  spirit,  so  de- 
voted to  his  Avork  from  the  very  start,  that  it  Avas 
hoped  he  Avould  for  many  years  brighten  and 
lighten  the  burden  noAV  sorely  pressing  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  other  clergy.  He  had  peculiar  and 
rare  gifts  for  the  Avork.  He  did  not  know  the 
meaning  of  discouragement.  In  his  private  life 
devout  and  almost  austere,  his  manner  Avith  others 
had  never  a  tinge  of  gloom,  but  Avas  bright,  sunny 
and  cheery.  Passionately  fond  of  music  and  well 
skilled  in  its  science,  he  never  Avearied  in  training 
the  choristers,  and  he  Avent  in  and  out  of  the  clergy 


154  dttjelue  ^cars  ^tnong  tl]c  (floloreb  JJeoplc. 

house  singing  in  rich,  deep  tones  snatches  of  song 
like  a  happy  bird.  Full  of  sympathy  and  godly 
counsel  for  the  mourner  or  the  penitent,  he  was 
equally  at  home  in  merrymaking,  and  no  pleasure 
excursion  was  considered  complete  without  Mr. 
Smythe.  The  amount  of  work  that  he  could  press 
into  a  day  was  marvelous.  When  the  writer,  one 
niglit,  noticing  his  weariness  urged  him  to  attempt 
less — "Why?"  replied  he  brightly,  "I  am  very 
tired  each  night,  it  is  true,  but  why  should  I  not 
be  ?  I  rest  Avell  and  am  ready  for  the  same  work 
the  next  day."  When  preparing  classes  for  con- 
firmation he  would  wait  in  his  room  till  one  o'clock  at 
night  for  men  employed  till  after  midnight  at  hotels, 
and  then,  in  his  stocking-feet,  that  the  other  clergy 
might  not  be  disturbed  nor  expostulate  Avith  him 
for  "overwork,"  would  slip  down  to  the  front  door 
and  let  them  in,  and  give  them  an  hour's  instruc- 
tion. It  has  been  the  writer's  privilege  to  live  in 
daily  intercourse  with  noble  and  earnest  men.  Some 
have  fallen  asleep  ;  others  are  still  left  to  him  ;  but 
he  thinks  that  he  has  never  intimately  known  any 
one  whose  character,  take  it  all  in  all,  seemed  to 
him  so  nearly  perfect  as  Mr.  Smythe's, 

God  saw  fit  that  this  noble  soul  should  not  be 
without  trial  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  One 
shadow  fell  over  his  happy  life  in  Baltimore.  The 
unending  theological  controversy  in  the  diocese 
that  has  already  so  often  appeared  in  these  pages 
sought  another  victim.  Without  in  any  way  being 
directed  against   Mr.  Smythe  personally — for  he 


CDur  -faitl]ful  JUc^iartcft.  155 

was  hardly  known  to  the  members  of  the  Standing 
Committee — the  contest  for  a  time  centered  upon 
him.  His  testimonials  signed,  as  the  Canon  re- 
quired them  to  be,  by  the  clergy  and  vestry  of 
Mount  Calvary,  were  not  accepted  by  the  Standing 
Committee.  Like  other  unwilling  exiles  from  the 
Maryland  Diocese,  he  was  forced  to  seek  ordina- 
tion to  the  priesthood  in  a  diocese  of  more  liberal 
views.  Cordially  received  by  the  Bishop  of  New 
York,  he  was  ordained  by  him.  The  acrimony  of 
the  attack,  and  especially  the  wholly  inexcusable 
hesitation  in  accepting  his  word — he  was  the  soul  of 
honor  and  frankness — wounded  a  deeply  sensitive 
nature  and  seriously  affected  his  health.  The  re- 
sult will  be  stated  in  a  short  memoir  furnished  by 
the  father  he  so  dearly  loved.  Little  did  we  think 
when  we  stood  by  the  grave  of  Mr.  Vinton  with 
the  elder  Mr.  Smythe,  who  was  at  the  time  visiting 
his  son  at  our  home,  that  in  another  year  we  should 
be  sorrowing  by  his  side  over  Herbert's  grave.  Very 
different  from  the  great  concourse  of  i^eople  at 
Waverly  was  the  scene  on  that  frontier  of  civiliza- 
tion where  his  father  in  missionary  zeal  had  gone. 
Surrounded  by  a  new  congregation,  who  had  known 
the  son  only  through  the  loving  description  of  his 
parents,  but  who  showed  the  tenderest  sympathy, 
the  Holy  Eucharist  was  celebrated  on  an  extempo- 
rized altar  in  the  place  of  worship,  kindly  loaned 
by  the  Presbyterians.  Clad  in  his  Eucharistic  vest- 
ments, according  to  his  dying  request,  he  was  laid 
to  rest  in  the  lonely  prairie  more  than  1,000  miles 


156  Q[v3c[vz  IDcars  Qlmong  tlje  (toloxth  JJeoplc. 

from  his  Bultiniore  home.  His  body,  now  removed, 
lies  beneath  the  sliadow  of  a  beautiful  church  in 
Canada.  His  father,  at  onr  request,  has  furnished 
the  followiiis:  brief  memoir: 


MEMOIR  OF  THE  EEV.  H.  B.  SMYTHE,  A.M. 

Mr.  Smythe  was  born  in  London,  27ih  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1854,  and  was  brought  in  childhood  by 
his  parents  to  this  country,  his  fatlier  settling  as 
Eectorof  S.  John's  Church,  in  Helena,  Ark.  From 
his  earliest  youth  he  asjiired  to  the  holy  ministry 
of  the  Church,  and  from  his  first  consciousness  he 
corresponded  with  this  aspiration,  and  looked  for- 
ward to  a  life  of  service  at  God's  altar.  With 
that  in  mind,  he  kept  himself  pure  and  free  from 
aught  that  might  interfere  with  the  fullest  service 
he  could  render. 

After  a  blameless  boyhood,  which  endeared  him 
to  all  who  knew  him,  he  entered  Eacine  College 
in  1870,  and  graduated  in  1876.  Aided  by  the 
loving  counsel  of  his  revered  instructor  and  adviser, 
the  Eev.  Dr.  De  Koven,  he  passed  through  all  the 
departments  of  Eacine,  aiming  to  fit  himself,  with 
God's  guidance,  for  his  high  calling.  There,  as 
at  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  which  he 
entered  in  1876,  he  won  for  himself  the  love  and 
respect  of  all  his  classmates  and  instructors,  who 
looked  for  great  blessings  to  the  Church,  from  his 
steady  perseverance,  his   entire  consecration,  his 


CDur  i^aitljfttl  0cpartcb.  157 

bright  and  amiable  disposition,  and  his  apparently 
strong  and  vigorous  constitution. 

Eeady  to  give  himself  up  to  his  chosen  work,  in 
the  spring  of  1879,  his  desire  was  to  return  with 
Bishop  Schereschewsky  to  the  China  Mission,  in 
regard  to  which  the  following  memorandum  is 
found  on  the  fly-leaf  of  his  pocket  Bible:  "  April 
17,  Vigil  of  Mannday  Thursday — to  night  I  offered 
myself  to  the  Bishop  of  China."  He  was  hindered 
in  this,  however,  by  the  delicate  state  of  his 
mother's  health. 

Mr.  Smythe  was  ordained  to  the  diaconate  June 
15,  1879,  at  Christ  Church,  Croswell,  Michigan. 
His  father,  being  the  rector,  presented  him  to 
Bishop  Gillespie,  of  Western  Michigan,  oflBciating. 
He  at  once  entered  on  his  work  in  Baltimore, 
where,  in  preference  to  many  tempting  offers  else- 
where, including  a  call  to  be  assistant  minister  at 
the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  Chicago,  he  accepted 
a  call  to  labor  among  the  colored  people  in  Balti- 
more, in  the  work  carried  on  by  the  clergy  of  Mount 
Calvary  Church. 

Mr.  Smythe  was  ordained  priest  in  New  York, 
by  Bishop  Potter,  June  27,  1880.  His  father,  the 
Eev.  Wm.  H.  Smythe,  preached  the  sermon,  and 
assisted,  with  the  clergy  of  Mount  Calvary  Church, 
Baltimore,  and  others  of  New  York,  in  the  ser- 
vices on  that  occasion. 

Of  his  short  ministry  no  adequate  account  can 
be  given  in  this  brief  memoir.  Those  who  were 
with  him  can  alone  testify  of  his  labors  in  season 


158  ^vocivc  Sears  !^mong  t\)c  dloloxch  |)eopl-e. 

and  out  of  season,  and  of  symptoms  which,  all  un- 
consciously to  them,  as  to  him,  began  to  weaken 
and  impair  a  vigorous  and  seemingly  well-estab- 
lished constitution.  Circumstances  and  contro- 
versy, in  no  sense  intended  as  personal,  but  which 
centered  to  some  extent  in  himself,  made  his  en- 
trance into  the  priesthood  a  time  of  trial  and 
perplexity,  from  the  consequence  of  which  Mr. 
Smythe's  timid  and  retiring  nature  had  not  re- 
covered before,  after  a  year  of  active  service,  God 
took  him  to  that  Haven  of  Rest  : 

"  Where  happier  bowers  than  Eden's  bloom. 
Nor  sin,  nor  sorrow  know  : 
Blest  seat !  through  rude  and  stormy  scenes 
I  onward  press  to  you." 

These  trials,  borne  with  patience  and  fortitude, 
served  only  to  deepen  the  side  of  his  devotional 
character.  The  daily  celebrations  of  Mount  Cal- 
vary were  his  especial  joy.  Not  one  morning  in 
two  years,  as  deacon  and  priest,  did  he  fail  to 
attend  the  pleading  of  tlie  one  sacrifice,  once 
offered.  One  year  of  work  in  the  priesthood  and 
his  toil  was  over. 

At  the  close  of  June,  1881,  he  left  Baltimore  for 
a  holiday,  to  whicli  he  had  looked  forward  with 
joyous  anticipation,  meaning  to  spend  at  least  a 
month  Avith  his  loving  parents,  the  Rev.  Wm.  H. 
Smythe  and  wife,  at  Port  Austin,  Michigan.  On 
his  way  home  he  tarried  for  a  few  days  with  his 
brother,  E.  H.  Smythe,  LL.D.,  at  Kingston,  Can- 


®ur  irdtl)fnl  JDcparteb.  159 

ada.  Here,  however,  he  became  conscious  of  the 
presence  of  active  disease ;  but  bearing  up  until 
he  could  be  nursed  by  a  loving  mother,  he  hastened 
home.  There,  after  a  fortnight  of  seemingly 
slight  fever,  his  enfeebled  frame  was  attacked  v.-ith 
acute  peritonitis,  and  after  a  few  hours  of  intense 
suffering,  in  Avhich  his  faith  and  trust  never  fal- 
tered, sustained  and  comforted  by  the  love  of  God, 
extended  through  the  sacraments  of  the  Church, 
and  the  indwelling  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  he 
breathed  back  his  soul  to  God  who  gave  it,  in  the 
arms  of  his  loving  mother,  July  22,  1881. 

This  mournful  fact  was  immediately  telegraphed 
to  Baltimore,  to  the  Rev.  Robert  H.  Paine,  Rector, 
and  the  Rev.  Calbraith  B.  Perry,  associate  Rector 
of  Mount  Calvary  Church,  who  immediately  hast- 
ened with  all  speed  to  the  chamber  of  death  at 
Port  Austin.  The  funeral  was  perfoi-med,  with 
all  due  solemnity,  by  these  loving  companions  in 
labor.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Paine  acted  as  celebrant  at 
the  holy  communion,  and  he  and  Mr.  Perry  made 
affecting  addresses  on  the  solemn  occasion. 

There  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron  were  laid 
away  the  remains  of  one  whom  all  who  had  known, 
loved,  July  27,  1881.  May  he  rest  in  peace,  and 
have  a  joyful  rising  in  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  might  seem  that  the  record  of  death  were  full. 
Still  more  lives,  however,  were  given  to  consecrate 
this  work.  A  year  before  Mr.  Richey's  departure, 
we  had  knelt  around  the  death-bed  of  one  whose 


160  StDcbc  ^ears  'lAmong  t\)c  Colored  |)eopU. 

life  seemed  scarcely  less  important  to  the  work  than 
that  of  the  clergy.  Sister  Harriet  had  been  sent 
out  as  Superior  of  the  All  Saints'  Sisters  in  Balti- 
more, and  for  three  years,  with  rare  wisdom  and 
great  devotion,  she  had  filled  the  position.  It  was 
during  this  time  that,  aided  by  her  judgment  and 
zeal,  the  colored  Sisterhood  was  successfully  begun. 
Sister  Harriet  had  been  one  of  the  three  postulants 
of  the  order  at  the  time  it  was  organized  in  Lon- 
don in  1856.  She  became  noted  in  England  as  one 
whose  sympathy  and  counsel  were  sought  by  every 
class  in  life.  In  America  she  maintained  the  same 
reputation,  and  when  she  was  laid  to  rest  (the  first 
buried  in  the  now  well-filled  lot  at  Waverly),  she 
was  followed  to  the  grave  by  a  great  number  of 
white  and  colored  people,  who  sincerely  mourned 
the  loss  of  a  friend  who  had  soothed  their  sorrows 
and  solved  their  perplexities.  She  entered  into 
rest  March  12,  1876.  At  the  funeral  services  at 
Mount  Calvary  Church,  twenty  vested  clergy  in  the 
choir  showed  their  respect  and  their  appreciation 
of  her  work,  and  the  eighteen  sisters  present 
represented  several  religious  orders.  The  Eev.  Dr. 
Leeds,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Leakin,  Wiley,  Chip- 
chase,  Gibson,  Cranston,  Hobbie  and  Rose  acted  as 
pall-bearers,  and  the  All  Saints'  school  filled  her 
grave  with  flowers.  Sister  Harriet's  memory  will 
be  held  ever  dear  in  Baltimore,  though  the  affec- 
tionate and  generous  care  which  the  Rev.  Mother 
in  England  has,  from  the  first,  bestowed  on  the 
American  work,  has  made  her  loss  felt  as  little  as 


ODur  i^aitl)ful  Dcpartcb.  IGl 

possible  by  tlie  selection  of  her  successor,  and  has 
supplied  a  number  of  other  accomplished  and 
devoted  sisters  for  the  work  both  of  Mount  Cal- 
vary and  S.  Mary's.  Again  death  entered  and 
took  a  very  lovely  character  to  her  reward — Sister 
Mary  Clement,  the  teacher  of  S.  Mary's  parish 
school.  The  girls  under  her  care  regarded  her 
with  the  affection  deserved  and  the  respect 
inspired;  although  she  well  loved  them  and  the 
work,  she  gladly  accepted  the  release  her  Lord 
gave  her  from  a  lingering  illness,  and  her  grave  is 
the  fourth  in  the  burial-lot  at  Waverly. 

This  tribute  may  be  paid  to  the  dead.  Good 
taste  forbids  the  same  free  expression  of  the  living. 
Yet  it  must  not  be  thought  that  there  is  no  causp 
for  thankfulness  for  their  services.  An  earlier 
chapter  has  shown  Mr.  Bartow's  interest  and 
connection  with  the  work.  While  two  of  the 
clergy  of  Mount  Calvary  have  been  more  especially 
assigned  to  the  work  at  S.  Mary's,  the  other  clergy 
have  taken  a  deep  interest,  and  frequent  exchanges 
have  been  to  the  advantage  of  the  congregation 
as  well  as  a  relief  to  themselves.  Mr.  Bartow  con- 
tinued to  preach  at  S.  Mary's  twice  a  month,  and 
when  he  accepted  a  call  to  a  parish  in  New  Jersey, 
he  left  many  friends  in  S.  Mary's,  as  well  as  a 
great  number  in  Mount  Calvary.  His  successor, 
the  Rev.  George  Herbert  MoflFett,  has  aided  from 
time  to  time  in  the  schools,  and  it  would  only  be 
necessary  to  mingle  among  the  people  to  know 
how  gladly  they  welcome  him  when  his  many 
11 


162  ©Boebe  ^cax8  !^mong  tl)c  CJTolor^b  fjcople. 

duties  at  Mount  Calvary  permit  him  to  preach  or 
otherwise  assist  at  S.  Mary's. 

After  Mr.  Smythe's  death,  his  place  was  tem- 
porarily filled  by  the  Rev.  Charles  H.  De  Garmo. 
He  spent  only  a  Avinter  with  us,  but  he  left  a  deep 
and  lasting  impression  upon  the  congregation. 
Few,  in  so  sliort  a  time,  could  have  become  so 
universally  beloved,  and  it  is  another  illustration 
of  our  assertion  that  those  who  are  especially 
marked  by  gentleness  of  disposition  and  unusual 
courtesy  of  manner  are  peculiarly  fitted  to  labor 
among  the  colored  people. 

The  Eev.  James  Oswald  Davis  was  our  latest 
assistant.  At  the  close  of  two  years  of  faithful 
and  earnest  Avork,  he  has  recently  accepted  a  call 
to  be  assistant  at  the  Church  of  S.  Mary  the 
Virgin,  New  York.  He  retired  from  the  work 
from  circumstances  beyond  control,  regretted  by 
clergy  and  congregation.  During  his  stay  he  was 
particularly  successful  in  the  organization  of  sev- 
eral guilds  and  the  more  complete  systematizing, 
under  the  sisters,  of  the  care  of  the  sanctuary  and 
similar  work. 

It  has  been  already  intimated  that  the  formation 
of  guilds  and  societies  among  the  colored  people 
has  not  been  found  as  fruitful  as  had  been 
expected.  This  arises  from  the  irregularity  of 
members  in  performing  duties  and  attending  meet- 
ings, partly  the  result  of  the  nature  of  their  oc- 
cupations and  partly  from  their  own  peculiarities. 
Yet  every  means  that  tends  to  make  them  more 


CDur  iraitl)fitl  Hepartcb.  1G3 

punctual  or  increase  their  sense  of  personal 
responsibility  should  be  employed,  and  the  diffi- 
culties in  keeping  up  their  interest  may  be  over- 
come. As  a  people,  they  are  certainly  fond  of 
forming  societies,  especially  of  such  as  have  a  great 
number  of  officers  or  are  employed  largely  in  the 
discussion  of  constitutions  and  by-laws.  The 
most  popular  societies  among  them  are  Avhat  are 
known  as  "  beneficial  societies,"  which  make  pro- 
vision for  sickness  and  death  among  their  mem- 
bers. "When  these  have  been  lionestly  and  wisely 
conducted,  they  have  done  much  to  encourage 
thrift  and  to  prevent  distress.  Their  odd  and,  it 
must  be  allowed  in  some  cases,  somewhat  grotesque 
costumes  or  "regalia,"  as  they  appear  in  attend- 
ance at  funerals,  is  somewhat  startling  to  one 
unaccustomed  to  them,  while  many  of  their  names 
are  still  more  remarkable,  as,  for  example,  the 
following,  selected  at  haphazard  from  such  as  are 
known  to  the  writer:  "  Galilean  Fishermen,"  "  Be- 
nevolent Daughters  of  Ebenezer,"  "Sons  and 
Daughters  of  Moses,"  *' Freed  Sons  and  Daughters 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  "Sons  and  Daughters  of 
Jerusalem  battling  at  the  gate  of  Glory." 

We  have  completed  the  list  of  our  regular  assist- 
ants.* Mr.  Bishop's  stay  at  S.  Mary's  was  fully 
treated  in  a  previous  chapter.  Besides  those  men- 
tioned whowerecanonically  resident  in  the  diocese, 

*  At  the  present  time  the  Rev.  Charles  G.  Maturin,  late 
curate  of  S.  Barnabas,  Pimlico,  London,  is,  for  a  few  months, 
most  earnestly  and  acceptably  assisting  in  the  work. 


164  ®u)ebe  Ifleflrs  ^ntong  tl)c  (fToloreb  People. 

others,  for  a  short  time,  have  supplied  vacant  places, 
such  as  the  Kev.  George  C.  Street,  Avhose  kindly, 
genial  ways  will  not  be  forgotten,  and  the  Rev.  J. 
13.  Draper,  who  more  recently,  for  some  months, 
labored  energetically  at  S.  Mary's.  These  pleasant 
associations,  with  the  occasional  visits  of  Bishops 
and  distinguished  clergy,  and  the  readiness  of  clergy 
of  this  and  other  dioceses  to  be  present  on  festival 
occasions  and  to  assist  in  times  of  need,  have  done 
much  to  cause  the  congregation  to  recognize  the 
unity  of  the  Church,*  and  to  feel  that,  no  longer 
outcasts,  they  are  regarded  with  fraternal  feeling 
and  interest. 

*  As  one  of  the  most  effectual  means  of  uniting  in  Chris- 
tian fellowship  the  two  races  should  be  mentioned  the 
labors  of  those  ladies  who,  with  unwearying  patience  and 
faithfulness,  have  been  fellow-workers  of  the  colored 
teachers  in  the  Sunday-schools  and  Day-schools. 


CONOLUSIOK 

The  preceding  chapters,  which,  it  is  feared,  are 
somewhat  disconnected  and  incomplete,  have  aimed 
not  only  to  entertain  those  who  have  personal  in- 
terest or  association  with  the  work  recorded.  In  ad- 
dition to  this  the  writer  lias  hoped  to  make  some 
contribution,  however  trivial,  towards  the  solution 
of  a  great  problem  which  is  before  the  Church. 
The  solution  itself  he  does  not  attempt;  that  is 
left  to  wiser  heads.  If  he  succeed  in  turning 
towards  the  subject  the  thoughts  of  those  more 
competent  to  solve  it,  whose  duty  the  Church  makes 
it  to  at  least  attempt  a  solution,  if  he  succeed  in 
demonstrating  the  danger  of  delay,  or  furnish  any 
infoi-mation  that  affords  enconragement  or  skill  in 
grappling  with  it,  his  object  will  be  accomplished. 

The  uplifting  of  a  people  freed  from  slavery  and 
made  citizens,  likely  forever  to  remain  with  us  as 
such,  and  to  increase  and  not  decrease  in  numbers, 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  and  brooks  no  dally- 
ing.*    There  has  been  no  attempt  to  conceal  the 

*  The  last  pages  of  this  work  were  in  press  before  the 
■writer  had  read  Judge  Tourgee's  last  book,  "  Appeal  to 
Caesar,"  tbe  most  thoughtful  treatise  on  the  "  Negro  Prob- 
lem "  tliat  has  yet  appeared.  Had  the  book  been  met 
earlier,  some  of  its  startling  statistics  and  irresistible  con- 
clusions drawn  from  tlieni,  would  have  been  quoted  to  en- 
force the  writer's  own  appeal  to  Churchmen  to  render  unto 


166  Srocloe  tjenrs  ^tnong  tl)e  Coloreb  |)cople. 

difficulties  of  the  task.  That  a  great  portion  of  the 
colored  people  are  living  in  dense  ignorance  and  in 
sin,  cannot  be  denied.  But  it  has  been  the  object 
of  the  preceding  pages  to  prove : 

First,  that  great  as  are  the  evils,  they  have  been 
exaggerated.  They  are  by  no  means  universal. 
The  exceptions — exceptions  very  marked,  and  in- 
creasing under  favorable  circumstances,  are  a  guar- 
antee of  the  possibility  of  altogether  eradicating 
them. 

Secondly,  that  the  evils  are  not  inherent  and 
necessary  characteristics  of  the  negro  race  as  such. 
They  are  not  "native  traits."  They  are  largely 
the  result  of  the  white  man's  dealing  with  the  black  ; 
it  follows  that  it  is  his  duty  to  undo  the  evils  he 
has  done. 

Thirdly,  that  the  Church  can  overcome  these 
evils.  It  has  been  a  chief  object  of  this  book  to 
present  actual  cases  in  wiiich  the  Church  has  done 
so.  Moreover,  the  victory  has  been  gained  amid 
opposition  and  complications  in  nowise  necessarily 
connected  with  this   special  work,   but  springing 

God  "the  things  that  are  God's,"  no  less  than  they  are 
things  which  afEect  the  welfare  of  Caesar.  No  Christian 
ought — more  than  any  patriot  or  legislator — to  neglect  a 
careful  study  of  the  facts  which  the  author  of  "Appeal  to 
Caesar  "  presents.  Those  most  prejudiced  against  his  for- 
mer works  will  acknowledge  his  fairness  and  hreadth  of 
sympathy  in  his  treatment  of  these  facts.  The  book  will 
form  a  valuable  hand-book  of  necessary  information  and 
useful  suggestions  to  all  engaged  in  any  department  of 
work  among  the  colored  people. 


Conclusion.  167 


from  local  and  temporary  causes.  Such  diflficulties 
need  not  therefore  be  taken  into  account  in  esti- 
mating the  chances  of  success  elsewhere. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  conceal  difficulties. 
They  arise  chiefly  from  the  apathy  and  unreasonable- 
ness of  the  North,  the  sensitiveness,  prejudice,  and 
theorizing  of  the  South,  the  ignorance,  the  self- 
ind  iilgence  and  indolence  of  the  colored  i^eople  them- 
selves, and  the  unwillingness  of  all  three  to  unite 
in  the  sacrifice  necessary  to  accomplish  the  end  in 
view.  These  are  difficulties  that  can  be  overcome, 
and  ought  to  be.  The  barriers  are  not  insur- 
mountable. 

Can  Christian  men  long  remain  indifferent  if  the 
Church  faithfully  and  persistently  presents  the  case 
to  them?  Those  who  have  loudly  insisted  on  the 
unity  of  the  nation,  which  necessarily  implies 
unity  and  community  of  interest,  must  see  the  vital 
importance  not  only  to  those  Avho  live  in  closest 
proximity  to  the  clanger  but  to  the  whole  land,  of 
purifying  and  enlightening  this  element  of  our 
civilization.  At  least  let  the  Church,  so  long  as 
her  offerings  for  her  conversion  remain  the  miser- 
able pittance  that  they  now  are,  abstain  from 
boasting  of  her  eagerness  to  open  her  arms  to  the 
colored  man.  Does  the  declaration  publicly  made 
that  the  North  is  ready  to  supply  the  means  when 
the  South  has  devised  the  way  i-epresent  any  honest 
sentiment  in  the  North  ?  The  "  Sewahee  Con- 
ference" proposed  a  plan  and  asked  for  legislation 
from  the  last  General  Convention,  1883.  The  special 


168  QLmclvc  ^cars  ^mong  i\)e  Qloloreb  JJcoplc. 

legislation  asked  for  was  deemed  iinAvise.  It  need- 
ed important  modifications.  Granted ;  we  think  so. 
But  could  not  some  better  way  have  been  substi- 
tuted? Is  it  not  as  important  that  the  Grace  of 
the  Sacraments  committed  to  the  Church  should 
be  dispensed  to  these  five  millions  of  people  as  that 
the  form  of  words  in  which  the  Sacraments  are  ad- 
ministered should  be  enriched  ?  Was  the  response 
that  "the  Board  of  Managers  for  Domestic  and 
Foreign  Missions  be  requested  to  appropriate  the 
sum  of  $50,000  per  annum  for  work  among  the 
Colored  People"  mere  irony?  If  to  devise  a  plan 
was  not  the  business  of  the  legislative  body,  as 
was  claimed  by  some,  was  it  not  of  the  Board  of 
Missions?  Is  it  not  somebody's  business?  A 
joint  resolution  of  both  Houses  declared  that 
the  work  of  tlie  Church  among  the  Colored 
People  "ought  to  receive  a  large  share  of  the 
cares  and  benefactions  of  our  Board  of  Missions." 
How  large  a  share  of  care  it  may  receive  the  Board 
of  Managers  alone  can  testify.  That  it  does  not 
receive  a  large  share  of  the  benefactions  is  abun- 
dantly shown  by  their  reports.  We  asked  bread; 
they  gave  us  a  stone. 

But  all  this  does  not  excuse  those  Dioceses  in 
which  are  found  the  largest  number  of  the  colored 
people,  from  earnestly  prosecuting  the  work.  Let 
the  cry  that  the  South  is  too  poor  to  do  so  be  raised 
no  longer.  It  is  sheer  nonsense.  That  the  means 
and  men  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church  of  the  South, 
or  indeed  of  the  whole  Church,  are  not  commensu- 


((Tonclusion.  169 


rate  with  the  work  to  be  done,  is  most  true.  In- 
significant indeed  are  the  offerings  of  all  Christen- 
dom for  converting  the  Chinese  Empire.  Yet  we 
keep  a  Bishop  and  a  little  staff  of  missionaries 
as  a  spark  of  Gospel  light  on  the  face  of  that  vast 
realm.  The  South  is  not  too  poor  to  make  a  be- 
ginning. Undoubtedly  parts  of  the  South  are  poor. 
But  is  Baltimore  poor  ?  Is  Richmond  poor  ?  Is  New 
Orleans  or  Charleston  or  St.  Louis  ?  Are  they  so 
destitute  of  fine  churches  or  wealthy  laymen  that 
there  cannot  be  one  properly  sustained  work  among 
the  colored  people  in  any  of  them? — one  church 
hospital  or  charity  of  any  kind,  one  educational  in- 
stitution at  all  worthy  of  the  Church  ?  Why  talk 
about  Avhat  they  cannot  do,  Avhen  they  have  not 
done  what  they  can  ?  It  is  not  so  much  the  means 
that  is  lacking  as  it  is  the  will. 

Doubtless  the  manner  of  Avorking  will  have  to  be 
mended  and  modified  to  suit  the  necessities  of  the 
case.  Prejudice  must  bend  before  duty.  The 
Church  at  the  South  must  be  ready  to  learn  as  Avell  as 
to  instruct,  to  receive  suggestions  as  well  as  to  make 
them.  We  should  be  loath  to  believe  that  Dr. 
Tucker  speaks  for  the  whole  Church  in  the  South 
when  he  says,  "When  Northern  Christians  of  any 
name  propose  to  help  the  negroes,  the  Southern 
Christians  draw  back  with  a  feeling  of  despair 
mingled  with  anger  ; "  or  that  his  exhortation  "  Send 
no  Northern  missionaries  down  here  "  would  meet 
general  indorsement.  Does  he  confound  his  breth- 
ren  in   the  priesthood  with  "  carpet-bag "  politi- 


170  ^radve  fears  '^mong  t\)$  dLoloxcb  people, 

cians!  Such  language  is  preposterous  and  does 
yast  injury  to  the  cause.  More  than  one  can  tes- 
tify that  "  Northern  men,  proposing  to  help  the 
negro,"  have  met  a  hearty  welcome  and  God-speed 
from  many  thoroughly  representative  men  of  the 
South.  When  the  opposite  feeling  exists,  and  in 
some  quarters  it  does  exist,  it  had  best  be  ignored 
and  allowed  to  die  with  as  little  attention  called  to 
it  as  possible. 

The  magnitude  of  the  work,  its  difficulties,  its 
many-sided  aspects,  demand  the  offerings,  the  wis- 
dom, and  the  willing  personal  co-operation  of  all 
sections  of  the  countiy  and  of  both  races.  Let  the 
results  of  experience  be  gathered  from  all  quarters, 
both  within  and  Avithout  the  Churcli,  and  then  let 
her  wisest  counselors,  Avhite  and  black,  represent- 
ing all  parts  of  the  country,  unite  with  singleness 
of  heart  and  purpose  to  deduce  from  the  evidence 
before  them  the  surest  methods  of  success.  Guided 
by  their  counsel,  let  the  Church  go  forth,  in  har- 
mony and  in  strength,  to  the  work,  and  let  the 
willing  laborer  be  welcomed  without  asking  whence 
he  comes  or  what  the  color  of  his  skin. 

The  colored  people  must  do  their  share  of  bend- 
ing to  the  needs.  They  too  must  conquer  preju- 
dice, hardly  less  strong  even  in  regard  to  color 
lines  among  themselves  than  the  prejudices  of  the 
whites.  They  must  be  ready  to  respond  to  efforts 
made  in  their  behalf,  and  must  sustain  them 
whether  made  by  representatives  of  their  own 
race   or  by  others.      If  a  bishop  bravely  stands 


(Kondusiort.  171 


forth  for  ecclesiastical  rights  of  colored  church 
men,  as  the  Bishop  of  8oiith  Carolina  seems  to 
have  done,  his  action  should  receive  generous  re- 
cognition not  only — as  it  has — from  the  estimable 
congregation  which  he  championed,  but  from  tlie 
colored  people  everywhere.  They  must  hold  up  the 
hands  of  those  who  do  labor  for  them,  or  who  in 
their  behalf  brave  public  sentiment ;  otherwise  few 
will  be  encouraged  to  add  themselves  to  the  num- 
ber. They  must  be  no  less  patient  with  prejudices 
which  are  natural  to  the  former  master  than  they 
are  with  traits  which  are  characteristics  of  the  for- 
mer slave.  They  must  cease  grumbling  and  repin- 
ing over  tlie  want  of  advantages  which,  however, 
they  may  manfully  seek  by  all  legitimate  means, 
while  they  must  make  the  best  of  the  ones  which 
they  have.  They  must  cease  to  regard  themselves 
with  indolent  and  contented  self-complacency,  to 
expend  tiieir  best  energies  in  idle  self-vindication, 
lest  it  be  said  of  them  as  of  those  Corinthians 
of  old  who  "  commended  themselves,"  that  they 
"measuring  themselves  by  themselves  and  compar- 
ing themselves  among  themselves  are  not  wise," 
That  the  negro  should  have  been  driven  into  this 
unfortunate  frame  of  mind  is  not  strange.  As  a 
recent  writer  among  themselves  has  truly  said, 
"  He  has  been  made  the  victim  of  the  most  exalted 
panegyric  by  one  set  of  fanatics,  and  of  the  most 
painful,  malignant  abuse  and  detraction  by  another 
set.  The  one  has  painted  him  as  a  sort  of  angel, 
and  the  other  as  a  sort  of  devil  :  when  in  fact  he 


173  Qlmcivc  ^ears  ^mong  tl)£  Colored  |)eople. 

is  neither  one  nor  the  other;  when  simply  he  is  a 
man,  a  member  of  the  common  family  possessing 
no  more  virtue  nor  vice  than  his  brother." 

But  this  same  author,  Mr,  T.  Thomas  Fortune, 
who  is  a  prominent  and  clever  leader  among  his 
people,  and  whose  book  "Black  and  White"  con- 
tains much  that  is  marked  by  shrewd  common 
sense,  seems  to  cast  a  slur  upon  Christian  labors 
among  his  people.  He  apparently  places  all  hope 
of  their  progress  upon  secular  education  and  ma- 
terial prosperity.  It  is  a  symptom  of  a  dangerous 
sentiment  spreading  among  their  most  intelligent 
class.  This  tendency  doubtless  finds  its  cause, 
though  not  its  justification,  in  the  very  imperfect 
Avay  that  Christianity  has  been  presented  to  them. 
The  tendency  is  natural,  but  none  the  less  pernicious. 

The  diflBculties  we  have  enumerated  face  the 
Church.  None  of  them  are  invincible.  For  victory 
our  Church  is  furnished  with  weapons  which,  we 
believe,  no  other  religious  body,  no  other  moral 
agency,  possesses.  Let  her  but  enter  the  field  bravely, 
fearlessly,  with  energy  and  with  self-sacrifice,  and 
the  victory  is  assured.  As  for  mere  social  ques- 
tions, as  another  has  wisely  said,  the  best  way  of 
dealing  with  them  is  to  ignore  them.  The  Church 
has  nothing  to  do  with  them.  They  will  take  care 
of  themselves.  Neither  can  the  colored  people  ex- 
tend purely  social  privileges  by  legislation,  nor  the 
Avhites  so  restrict  them.  Social  relations  are  regu- 
lated by  laws  not  subject  to  human  control.  In 
her  own  sphere  the  Church  has  her  canon  of  Chris- 


(Honclnsion.  173 


tian  chcarity  imposed  by  Him  who  is  no  respecter  of 
persous  ;  unmoved  by  worldly  considerations,  let 
her  do  what  is  right  and  leave  consequences  to 
God. 

With  these  objects  in  view,  the  writer  trusts  he 
may  be  pardoned  for  having  so  long  tried  the 
patience  of  his  readers;  and  in  closing  his  book,  he 
would  make  his  own  the  beautiful  prayer  uttered 
in  Westminster  Abbey  by  that  able  and  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  the  negro  race,  the  Bishop  of  Hayti : 

"0  Thou  Saviour  Christ,  Son  of  the  Living 
God,  who  when  Thou  wast  spurned  by  the  Jews  of 
the  race  of  Shem,  and  who,  when  delivered  up 
without  cause  by  the  Romans  of  the  race  of  Ja- 
pheth,  on  the  day  of  Thy  ignominious  crucifixion, 
hadst  Thy  ponderous  cross  borne  to  Golgotha's 
summit  on  the  stalwart  shoulders  of  Simon  the 
Cyrcnian,  of  the  race  of  Ham,  I  pray  Thee,  0 
Precious  Saviour,  remember  that  forlorn,  despised, 
and  rejected  race,  Avhose  son  thus  bore  Thy  cross, 
when  Thou  shalt  come  in  the  power  and  majesty 
of  Thy  eternal  Kingdom  to  distribute  Thy  crowns 
of  everlasting  glory! 

"And  give  to  me  then,  not  a  place  at  Thy  right 
hand  or  at  Thy  left,  but  only  the  place  of  a  gate- 
keeper at  the  entrance  of  the  Holy  city,  the  new 
Jerusalem,  that  I  may  behold  my  redeemed  breth- 
ren, the  saved  of  the  Lord,  entering  therein  to  be 
partakers  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  of  all 
the  joys  of  Thy  glorious  and  everlasting  King- 
dom!" 


174  Qlvidvc  ^cars  'i^mong  t[)c  Cfloloreb  |)eople. 


Note. — While  these  pages  were  passing  through  the 
press  a  better — upon  quite  another  subject — was  received 
from  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Holly  containing  the  following  grat- 
ifying sentences  :  "  I  am  glad  to  say  we  find  Alice  to  be  all 
that  our  fondest  hopes  could  have  pictured  to  our  imagina- 
tion. Many  thanks  for  this  most  substantial  service  that 
you  and  your  worthy  co-laborers  have  thus  rendered  to  the 
poor,  struggling  Church  in  Hayti."  May  God  continue  to 
bless  the  work  of  Alice  and  of  her  noble,  self-sacrificing 
Bishop.  A  Philadelphia  paper  has  also  recently  announced 
that  Mr.  James  <i.  Davis,  the  former  pupil  of  S.  Mary's, 
whose  creditable  course  in  Philadelphia  has  been  alluded 
to,  has  by  competitive  examination  won  the  first  honor 
in  his  class  at  the  Franklin  Institute,  and  in  consequence 
has  been  assigned  the  work  of  preparing  the  drawing  of  a 
steam  engine  for  the  annual  Exhibition. 


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